Weakness of the Enemy
by LochlynParker
Summary: AU from 5.07 Mark and Vex meet under different circumstances, and a romance develops. Then, something starts to wedge it's way between them, with sinister intentions. Vark, end game Valkubus.
1. Chapter 1: The Black Ball

**_Weakness of the Enemy_**

Author's Note: OK, so first – at the time of writing this I have not seen episode 5.07 yet. But I'm on Tumblr so I know how it worked out. This is going to be a slightly AU from season five, but Mark and Vex will be meeting in a different way. I also know a lot of people have read my other story, and I will (eventually) return to that but I can't always control my muse. Enjoy!

Chapter One: The Black Ball

By the time Mark arrived at the masquerade it was already in full swing. He brushed his cape aside to lift his eye mask at the door, revealing his identity to the doorman, who proceeded to check his name off a list, then stepped aside to allow him entry. The ballroom was grand, and dimly lit. Candlelight glowed from sparse candelabra between thick black curtains covering the walls.

He walked under a grand chandelier, passing through the crowd. Most of the people in the room were human, and a plethora of scents wafted to him, but the party was not without some human companions.

Everyone wore elegant costumes and bejeweled masks. He felt a little self-conscious, randomly shuffling his way through the throng. His father had gotten him on the guest list to this event, but he had no idea how he would find him. There had to be over two hundred people in the room, some dancing, more over by the bar and scattered tables on the far side.

Still new to town, he wondered if some of the other Fae he had encountered would be in attendance. Bo, Tamsin, he thought of a couple names and thought that while he might not know them well yet, this didn't seem like the kind of place they would feel comfortable. It might appeal to that human Kenzi, however, and if his father got him in, he most certainly could get an invite for her.

Unsure of what to do, he made his way towards the bar. The sexual energy here was thick, and he wasn't the best at keeping his passion in his pants. A drink in his hand was a nice distraction, he found.

Downing his beverage, he scanned the room, trying to pick out his father's unusual gait among the masses. Failing, he decided he might as well have fun in the meantime, and took to the dance floor.

The music blasting out of the speakers mixed classical tunes with techno beats, and the dancers twirling on the hardwood floor were just as confused as what pumped from the corners of the room. The dance floor seemed to be split down on the middle; on one side, people danced away like they would at any night club, while on the other, the grand gestures of ballroom dancing reigned supreme. While the ballroom style appealed to him, he had no idea where to even begin with the movements, and no partner either.

So he joined the side of flailing arms, temporarily losing himself in a sea of bodies rhythmically bouncing off each other. As he danced, he let the drink he had a few minutes ago ease him into a sort of trance, and suddenly someone was grinding up against him.

He could only make out fiery eyes and the blur of a goatee, but not much more. The other man's motions were jerky yet graceful, a strange blend of frantic and liquid gestures that somehow achieved extreme sexuality. Dancing together, he also took notice of the skin tight leather costume he wore. It was almost like an all-black Victorian bondage outfit.

Eh, he thought, stranger things have turned him on.

They danced in anonymity for nearly half an hour before Mark leaned in, placing both his hands on the other man's shoulder to calm his shaking body. "How about a drink?" he shouted over the music.

"How about one, at that?" The man said with a distinctively British accent. "First one's on me!"

The man curved an arm around Mark's waist and led him away from the main floor. They ordered their drinks, and Mark was led to a dark, slightly quieter corner. A few people milled about near them, but otherwise they had about as much privacy as they were going to get.

"So how'd you end up here, mate?" the man asked.

"Well… that's a long story," Mark said, blushing a little. It was actually quite a difficult story to tell. "Nice party," he added, trying to change the subject.

"OK, so we're not there yet," he said. "The name's Vex, by the way."

"Mark."

"So, Mark, where'd ya hear about the gala tonight?"

"My father got me on the list." Mark shrugged. "I guess he's kind of a big deal around here or something."

Vex gave a wicked grin. "It's always nice to meet new friends with familial connections. I have a few of those around here meself, maybe I know him?"

"His name's Dyson."

Vex froze for a moment, and Mark caught it. An awkward silence fell between them, then Mark offered, weakly, "So I guess you know him…"

"Yeah, it's safe to say we've not always been the best of friends, but it's not like he hates me," Vex offered. "Anymore, anyway."

Mark knew there was a story in that, but he sensed that, like his origins, it was one Vex wasn't comfortable telling upon a first meeting. He decided to once again change the course of their conversation, and asked for Vex to take off his mask, so "he could see the rest of that beautiful face."

Laughing, Vex held out his drink for Mark to hold onto, then used both hands to delicately lift the mask over his hair. "Don't want to mess up the styling, you know," he said with a chuckle.

With his full face exposed, something deep within Mark tightened. He was beautiful, in kind of a jester-like way.

"Your turn," he said, reaching for the glasses.

Handing them over, Mark also removed his mask. Vex took a while to look him over, it was almost like he was trying to memorize every line, but his face remained blank. "Like what you see?" he asked softly.

At first he wasn't sure Vex had heard him over the sound of the music, until he leaned in for a deep, lingering kiss. He thought it might last forever if some hadn't come running over shouting Vex's name.

The kiss broke, and he stood for a bit with his eyes closed, not even really hearing the conversation happening right before him, until his name was called.

Turning, he saw Kenzi standing before them, already unmasked. A man he had never seen before had one arm draped casually around her shoulder. "Oh, hey Kenzi," he said weakly.

She smiled at him, slapping him playfully on the shoulder.

"I've never had the pleasure of a kiss like that with Vex, here, but I can only imagine." She said. "Oh! Sorry," she said, looking up at the stranger, "guys, this is Ashton, I met him a few days ago."

"Hello," Ashton greeted. His eyes glowed faintly, but Mark couldn't detect anything Fae about him. It was strange, but who was he to judge?

They talked for a few minutes before Kenzi pulled Mark to the side. "So this one, eh?" she motioned back towards Vex. "You're one lucky guy."

"Thanks, but we just met."

"I saw that kiss from across the room. And you're pause before coming back to the real world after it ended?"

"What about your new guy. What's going on there?"

Kenzi looked confused for a minute, then said, "Oh right! The eye thing."

"You don't think that's a little odd?"

"He told me he has a very small amount of Fae blood in him, from a few generations back. It's basically diluted into nothing – he doesn't have any powers or anything, just a neat eye trick that he can't seem to turn off. He's welcome in Fae circles, though."

Something about the story didn't seem right, but he didn't want things to get heavy. He wanted to go back to kissing Vex, who was chatting with Ashton. They both stood rigidly, which although he only just met Vex, he didn't seem like the kind of person to ever be uncomfortable.

Kenzi noticed his longing stares, and face-palmed herself. "I'm so sorry! I interrupted a new thing here. I'll get Ashton and get out of your hair!"

"No, it's OK. I'm still working on making friends here," Mark said, secretly relieved to hear her make the assumption. "So thanks for coming over. We'll have to hang out soon."

"Hey, if you're with him," she jabbed her thumb in Vex's direction, "I'm down. He's a master with a mascara brush."

Winking, she spun away, jerking Ashton with her, and they disappeared into the swirl of the dance floor.

"Are we still waiting on dear old Daddy to show up, or have you had enough of these fancy surroundings?" Vex asked, striding up to Mark.

"I don't even know if I could even find him in this. I didn't know how large this party was going to be. Is everything this… grand here?"

"Oh sweetie," Vex cooed. "You have no idea."

"I guess I'm good to go. I'll just call Dad in the morning. Did you have any place in particular in mind?"

"There's a lovely little pub not too far from here, or myself is just a little beyond that."

Mark leaned over and kissed him again. The sparks flew again, but he remained in control of himself this time. "Slow down a touch, cowboy. Let's start with the pub."

Pulling the mask back down over his face, Mark led the way back across the room holding Vex's hand, who trailed behind. In the dim lighting Mark felt like he walked through a dream. These feelings bubbling up within him – he had never felt something so immediate, so desperate. Yes, he wanted to bypass the bar and just go home and fuck this man silly, but feared how that might come off. The last thing he wanted was Vex thinking he was some weak one night stand. What he wanted, more than anything, was to learn more about this enigmatic man, to learn the kind of things you can't learn in just one night.

Why he felt this strongly, he wasn't sure. There was no sense of an enchantment, unless… Unless this was the feeling that rose to the surface when he finds the one, that one special person to give his love to. Of course he knew the truth about shifters, and had heard about what happened with his father.

The feeling was strong, and primal, but he had to be sure.

So for now, drinks.

They wandered the streets until they stumbled upon the Dahl, which Mark guessed he should have expected. Where there any other bars in this town?

When they entered, the tense energy in the room was palpable. It was more overwhelming than the stench of two hundred Fae. Bo and Tamsin sat on opposite sides of the bar, their backs towards each other, nursing their own favorite poisons.

"Looks like we came on the wrong night," Vex whispered in Mark's ear. "Whatever, it doesn't have to affect us getting to know each other a little better, eh?"

Mark wanted to at least go over to Bo and ask her how she was doing, but decided he had better remain neutral for now. He smiled at Vex, and pulled him close. "Which seat looks good?"

"Probably the one in the middle of No Man's Land," Vex stated.

Did he sense that Mark wanted to remain on neither side of this argument? It made him feel lighter, and again he got that sensation that this was the man he was fated to be with. As much as he hated the word, he nearly swooned. After thinking about it, he thought that the word was actually appropriate.

"Sounds perfect."

They placed their orders, draped their respective capes over the backs of their chairs, and really took the time to let each other absorb the other's appearance – this time in decent light. Mark shifted uneasily in his seat. He wanted to keep looking at Vex, to memorize him the way the inverse happened earlier, but his eyes kept darting to the left and right, trying to get a better read on his friend's body language.

Vex noticed this, and slumped a little in his chair. "Look love, if you aren't comfortable here, I've already suggested another option."

"Sorry, sorry," Mark responded. "I just know that things are rough between them right now. It makes me upset that there's nothing I can do about it."

"Just think about that, then. If there's nothing you can do, then do nothing. It's quite simple, really."

For the first time that night, Mark held a flicker of a doubt about this man sitting before him. Was Vex really that empty, did he lack empathy?

Some dark cloud must have crossed over his face, because Vex rushed in, saying, "It's not like that, OK? I don't just want to ignore them. But trust me, you do not want to get in the middle of those two. You don't know them as well as I do. They tend to work things out on their own, eventually."

That relaxed Mark a little bit, but his guard was definitely still up. Especially considering everything going on with his emotions, he wanted to remain on the defensive side, at least for now.

The drinks came and they chatted, but not about anything real. It was the superficial, first date type talk, well at least for the Fae. Mark learned that Vex was the last Mesmer, while telling him that he was a shifter, but he wasn't sure what form he would be taking. Vex caught on to his anxiety about it, and made some joke that somehow lightened the mood considerably.

Tamsin rose from her table, slamming the chair back, loudly scratching along the warped floor. Instead of looking towards her, they turned their attention to Bo, to see if there was any reaction. They could see her tense, and heard Tamsin stomp towards the exit. But to her credit, Bo never once turned, never once backed down from the obvious taunt. Once the door slammed behind the Valkyrie, Bo took a long, slow sip from her glass. Draining it, she beckoned to Trick for another.

"That was intense," Mark said under his breath.

"As I said, better to leave them to their own ways."

Their glasses emptied, and Mark felt the influence from the alcohol coursing through him. He rose from the chair, and had to grab the table to steady himself.

"You alright there?" Vex said with a gleam in his eye.

"I-I'm fine," Mark replied. "Just need to use the restroom."

"Seems like you could use a little help with that," Vex said, starting to rise from his seat.

"Cool it. We've only just met."

"One thing that I've learned about the Fae," Vex said, standing up and stepping close, "is that we are a bunch of horny bastards. You can't say you're uninterested. I've seen the way you've been looking at me tonight. The way you enjoyed that first kiss."

Mark sloppily pushed Vex back into his chair. "I'm intrigued, yes. But for this, you'll have to play your cards just right." He leaned in and kissed him. "I'll be right back, and then we can talk about your place."

As Mark walked towards the bathroom, Vex leaned from his seat and wished Mark's pants were just a little tighter. He needed to teach the boy how to dress.


	2. Chapter 2: Trace of a Doubt

Chapter Two: Trace of a Doubt

Kenzi was having the best time with Ashton. She didn't know where he came from, or why he chose to saunter up to her at the club the other night when he was helping Bo deal with the fallout from Tamsin, but she was grateful. When Hale died, she felt like she could never have this feeling again. She was honest to Gods giddy, twirling around with him on that first night. As she was leaving, and he asked for her number, she actually gave him the correct digits. That hadn't happened in months.

He asked her to the Black Ball, and she didn't think twice about accepting the invitation. She was used to Fae gatherings, after all, and said yes instantly.

The night passed by as a blur, with the sole exception being her encounter with Mark. She held nothing against Vex, not anymore, and the way that boy looked at the Mesmer… she had to at least give him that moment.

Maybe she drank too much, and maybe she didn't care, but she asked Ashton back to the clubhouse after the party. She knew Bo would be at the Dahl, drinking her sorrows away like she did almost every night, so they would basically have the place to themselves. Besides, she had known him almost seventy-two hours, and had slept with people in a much shorter time frame than that.

As they were having sex in the attic, she said something that she would later regret once she awoke the next morning.

The warm sunlight fell through the slats in the roof, and she awoke to an empty bed. She could hear water running through the pipes and she figured Ashton was in the shower.

Through the haze of the previous night, she tried to remember their love making. He started to talk dirty, and when she returned volley, she made a misstep. Digging through her memory, she felt like she needed to know exactly what she said so she could formulate an apology. He went stiff, froze almost. There had to be some way to correct this, if only she knew what she had said.

When Ashton returned to the room, wrapped in nothing but a towel at the waist, he was all smiles. "Hey sexy," he greeted her. Nothing seemed amiss, and that one comment was enough to alleviate any fear that damage had been done to their relationship.

"Hey yourself," she said, pulling herself up on her elbows. The silky sheets fell from her torso, and Ashton took a nice, long look. "Want some more already?"

"As much as I would love that," he said, dropping the towel, "I have things that need to get done today."

Kenzi thought, not for the first time, that Ashton looked like someone constructed him from a kit. Short blonde hair, crystal blue eyes that gleamed with the lingering essence of his Fae heritage, and a square jaw sat atop a perfectly sculpted body. He was almost too good to be true, but there he stood.

She crawled towards the edge of the bed and puckered her lips. He bent down to meet her before grabbing his jeans and hastily tugging them on. Picking up the rest of his clothes, he gathered them in his arms and headed out the door.

Lying back in the bed, Kenzi allowed herself to remember all the sensations of the night before, replaying the events that she could remember like a private movie in her mind.

* * *

><p>They actually ended up at Vex's place that night, but to Vex's dismay, they did not consummate their relationship. Instead, they laid around all night, moving from the couch, to the rug before the fire, and eventually to the bed. In lieu of sex, they talked, and allowed their hands to roam freely over each other's bodies.<p>

In the morning, Vex awoke first. Mark's nude body sprawled over his own, his face tilted up towards the Mesmer's. Remaining as still as he could, he looked over the younger Fae's angelic features, and marveled that last night had actually happened, that this is what his life had become. A couple years ago he was a mass murdering psychopath, there was no use denying it, but now, his path to his own personal redemption has placed this man in his way. He still couldn't believe it.

He knew about the rule with shifters, about giving their love, and understood why Mark wanted to take it slow. Still, his libido seemed to have doubled in the last twelve hours, as evidenced by his current extreme case of morning wood.

And he also couldn't resist the thought of making this a real relationship, something with substance, and the look on Dyson's face when they told him.

Mark stirred. When his eyes opened it took him a minute to focus, remember his surroundings.

Vex smiled down at him and said, "You really need to learn how to hold your liquor better, mate. You had what, three drinks?"

A sound not unlike a purr escaped Mark, and he rubbed his face against Vex's chest. "I've never been a big drinker, moving here changed the pace a little bit." He kissed his way up the Mesmer's neck until he landed on his lips. They made out for a few minutes, then Mark broke their connection and asked, "What time is it?"

"A little after noon. Why, you have a hot date?"

"Noon?" Mark asked, alarmed. "Oh shit!"

"So that's a yes, then?"

"No! I should be at work right now! It's my first day."

Vex sighed. "Another Fae with a day job."

"Sorry, but I gotta run," Mark said, moving from the bed. He searched the scattered clothing on the floor for his underwear.

Rising from the bed, Vex spotted them half under his cape. Picking them up, he asked with a cheeky grin on his face, "Looking for these, love?"

Mark went to snatch them from his hand, but Vex threw his hand up. His other arm snaked around the shifter's waist and they found themselves kissing again. It took Mark a second to come back to his senses, and he pulled away.

"Seriously, I have to go."

"And where might this wonderful, surely high-paying gig be?"

"It's at that new, fancy restaurant downtown. And I'm already late," he said, taking the briefs from Vex's now lowered hand.

"You know, I could probably talk to Trick, get you hired on down at the Dahl."

"I need to make my own way, but thank you."

"Fae's are excellent tippers," Vex said, "and like you said, you're late already. That's no way to impress an employer. There are so many other things that we could do this afternoon." That glint returned to his eye, and that was almost enough to make Mark accept the proposal.

How had he gotten here? Before him stood an extremely handsome man, who appeared close to begging him to stay, and he had to get going. He knew he should go, make apologies to his new boss, and try to recover from being late on his first day, but that magnetism he felt last night returned in full force, and he found that he couldn't say no to the Mesmer.

"Or better yet," Vex continued, not realizing he already won, "I have amassed a small fortune over the years. You could stay here and I would take care of you."

"That's very sweet," Mark said, "but I would not be comfortable with that." He laughed. "And I can't believe I'm actually saying this because I worked hard to get that job, but…"

Vex's eyes lit up, and he felt his heart racing.

Mark dropped the briefs he held and took a step closer to him. Using one finger, he trailed it lightly over Vex's wrist, running up the length of his arm, across his collar bone, then began sliding it down his chest, ending at the waist.

Deciding to take a risk, Vex took Mark's hand in his own and lowered it a little further. In all the exploration of their bodies from the night before, one area had been an unsaid nonstarter. Now though, he felt like they've broken down a wall, and he guided Mark towards his member.

Unsure of how to react, Mark thought, screw it, and allowed himself to be led. Sex had been on the tips of their tongues since they met on the dance floor, and he figured he might as well one up Vex – keep him on his toes.

Right before his hand made contact, Mark dropped to his knees and kissed along Vex's waist. "Full of surprises, I see," Vex gasped beneath his breath.

Mark was no stranger to blow jobs, and some time ago he had learned a little trick. Though he might not have shifted yet and discovered his true form, he did know one thing about it. As he took Vex in his mouth, licking at the tip, taking him in, he released a low growl from his throat, vibrating his entire mouth against the flesh inside it.

Moaning, Vex's knees felt weak. He sagged against the bed and Mark moved with him, never breaking their contact. He sucked and growled and the Mesmer moaned in pleasure, running his hands through the Fae's hair and scratching gently down his back.

He came after a couple minutes, unable to withhold any longer.

Mark once again kissed his way back to Vex's mouth.

"That was amazing," Vex said, his eyes rolling back in his head.

"Well now," Mark said, cocking an eyebrow. "Want to return the favor?"

"Oh, yes. And as long as we're using our powers, let me show you exactly what I can do…"

* * *

><p>The room was mostly dark. Spare sunlight filtered in from the open door. It was a workroom of sorts, strange herbs and potions adorned the dusty shelves.<p>

A hand moved with strict purpose, arranging items in a fashion that screamed purpose. Bones and powders set about in a pentagram around a small bowl. The hand picked up a hammer, bringing it down roughly on the bones, shattering them. It picked up a small shard and placed it in the bowl.

The hand reached back and pulled a potion off one of the shelves, stirring the dust. It had been a long time since any of these were used, but now they must be awoken in order to get what it wanted. What it wanted more than anything.

A few drops went into the bowl, soaking into the bone fragment.

The hand pinched some dust between its fingers, and sprinkled that on as well. The bone glowed a little, and a voice spoke a name. "Mark," it whispered, and the glow dimmed back to nothing.

It picked up the shard, then leaned over and picked up a blow dart. It had what it wanted, and now was going to move on with its plan.


	3. Chapter 3: A Pain in the Neck

Chapter Three: A Pain in the Neck

Finally, Mark had to leave Vex's place. He went back to his place, feeling like he needed a shower. To be more precise, another shower. He and Vex had taken a couple, and the sun was setting.

Before he left, he asked Vex to talk to Trick for him. Pulling a no-call no-show on his first day of work wouldn't ever lead to anything fruitful there, and he needed a job. Taking Vex up on his offer sounded like something that was too good to be true, and he still didn't know enough about the Mesmer to know that there wouldn't be some serious strings attached. Vex seemed like a very complicated person. The only truth he knew for certain what that he was amazing at sex.

He walked along the sidewalk, barely noticing the people he passed. He wished he had Kenzi's number, just to have someone to chat with about the events of the last twenty four hours. In fact, the only numbers he had in his phone were Dyson's, Vex's, a few people from his past he would probably never reach out to again, and Bo's. The first night they met she grabbed his phone and punched in her number, telling him that if he ever found himself in any trouble, to call her immediately. He found it odd that she would tell him that when they were barely past the introductory stage, but it was possible that people got into a lot of trouble around here.

Trouble was the catalyst that drove him here. There were some people that wanted him to do some bad things. When he refused, someone close to him paid the price. These were all things that he'd rather not think about coming down from the day he had.

He turned a corner, and felt something sting his neck. The pain flashed and then was gone, but he flung his hand up, feeling for any sort of bug bite and finding none. He glanced around, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. A few people wandered here or there, but no one was paying any attention to him.

Shaking his head, he wrote it off as just a random incident, and made his way home, but his mind kept circling back around to it.

Going directly to his bathroom, he leaned over the sink and strained his neck in the mirror, trying to detect any mark where the sudden pain occurred. There was nothing, not a mark, on his skin.

Confused, he relaxed back onto the balls of his feet, and exhaled. Was he going crazy? It was probably just a strange nerve thing. He had put his body through its paces.

Stripping down, he started the water in the shower.

Steam began filling the small room as he pulled the curtain and stepped into the hot spray of water. He thought back to his encounter with Vex, and started to get hard all over again, then a random thought pinged through his mind.

Why hadn't Vex asked him to stay longer?

It was absurd, he knew, because he himself turned down the offer to straight up move in with him. But still, when he finally said that he needed to go, get back to his own life for a while, Vex didn't put up a fight. In fact, he acted like he had somewhere he needed to be.

Was that all last night was? Have a fun day, speak about grandiose romantic gestures, and then just move on?

He punched the tiled wall of the shower, hoping the pain blossoming in his knuckles would drive these thoughts out of his mind. All he had to do was hear Vex's voice, and everything would turn out fine. A little reassurance would go a long way.

This was all insane, really. Their bond was strong, new as it may be. Something about the way they connected, on every level, almost put Mark in a state of awe. Never in his life had someone made him feel the way he felt now.

Without bothering to finish his shower, he switched off the water and grabbed blindly for a towel. Wrapping it tightly around his waist, he feverishly dried his hands and reached for his cell. He found Vex's number easily and hit the green call icon. The phone rang and rang, without answer. Soon enough it directed him to voicemail, and he ended the call with no message.

He was already being ignored. The first thought he had was that Vex wouldn't just ditch his call. The second was he had never been so casually blown off before. He knew how attractive he was, but up until now he always tended to take that for granted. Was there something more he needed to offer? This had never been a problem in the past.

And they had bonded over everything, not just sex. Maybe he was busy, or his phone was on silent. That had to be it, Mark told himself.

He sat on his couch, water dripping onto the fabric. Vex would call him back, all he had to do was wait.

That, he was sure of.

* * *

><p>Bo sulked around the clubhouse all day. She barely noticed when Ashton strode past her, shirtless.<p>

About an hour after his departure, Kenzi wandered downstairs.

"Bobo!"

Bo jerked her head up from the arm of the chair she laid down in. "Huh?"

"Come on, let's go out! Ashton said he had some things to do, but I'm sure he'd meet up with us later. Let's get you out of this rut." Her characteristic high energy was having the reverse effect than it was intended.

"No," was all Bo said and put her head back down.

"Come on!"

"Aren't you tired from all that sex you had last night? The floors and walls aren't really thick, you know. And… in places they are downright missing?"

"You need to get out there. I thought my life was over after Hale died." She paused. "OK actually made it did kind of end there for a bit, but look at me now! I haven't forgotten him, and I think about him every day, but I realized I had to get back on that horse."

"Again and again, apparently," Bo groaned.

"That's not the attitude I need from you. Besides, how many times did I have to sit around listening to you and Lauren, or Dyson, or Rainer… I could go on," she said, grinning wickedly.

"Fair point. I guess."

Bo tried to pull herself up, and eventually succeeded. "Hey, how was the Black Ball last night?"

"You should have been there. It was epic. Oh, and I think that new guy, Mark? Pretty sure he left with Vex, if you can believe it."

Bo seemed to recall the two of them together at the Dahl at some point the night before, but she had been busy trying to not look or think about Tamsin so much that most of the time she spent there was blacked out. All the alcohol she consumed could have also played into that as well, she assumed.

"Did you tell him to watch his back?"

"Mark's a grown man," Kenzi replied. "I think he can make his own decisions. Also, you should have seem them together. I practically had to take a crow bar to get their lips separated."

"Huh," Bo said, marveling at the ability everyone around her seemed to have to shake off their baggage and just move on with their lives. If Vex held the capability for it, maybe Kenzi had a point. Still, she had crushed the heart of the one person she shouldn't have, and for that she felt she had the right to wallow for as long as she saw fit.

"Please, let's go out! And not to the Dahl, because She Who Must Not Be Named seems to have claimed it."

"Which is super unfair, by the way. The Dahl has always been our spot."

"True, but one of the two of you have way more friends than the other. That's you, by the way, if I wasn't obvious. There's a new club opening up tonight and Ashton managed to somehow get us on the list. We have to go."

"What does Ashton to for a living? How is he this well connected?" For the first time, Bo became wary of Kenzi's new suitor. And part of her felt distracted, which made another part of her feel a lot better.

"Tone it down a notch, Sherlock. He…" she trailed off. "Actually, we haven't had that conversation yet."

"Mouths too busy doing other things?"

"Look, I've only known him for a couple days. Just because you spout off everything about yourself in a matter of seconds after meeting someone doesn't mean that's always the best way to go." Kenzi entered her defensive state.

"Sorry, sorry," Bo apologized, holding up one hand. "That was slightly overstepping. Let me take a nap, and then about a dozen shots of whiskey, and I'll consider your absurd proposal."

"Absurd?" Kenzi laughed, settling down. "You do what you need to do, but I will see you at that club tonight." She winked, walked over and slapped Bo on the knee. "I've already begun the process of breaking you down."

Kenzi danced across the room for some cereal, and Bo dragged herself out of the chair, heading towards the stairs.

After pouring her milk, Kenzi sat down and began eating. She dug her phone out of a pocket and sent Vex a quick text asking how last night went. A few minutes later he sent back a picture of his private parts with a winky face. Kenzi rolled her eyes and went back to her bowl.

* * *

><p>Vex took a nap after Mark left. The younger man had left him physically drained, which was not the easiest feat. He slept for hours, and when he awoke, there was a missed call from Mark on his phone.<p>

He didn't instantly jump at the chance to call him back, it was just that he didn't want to seem desperate. At the same time, he knew that Mark was still hesitant to enter into a true romance with him, and he wanted to take a little time to figure out exactly what his next move should be.

Mark asked him to talk to Trick about getting a job, so he thought he'd start there. Then, when he returned the phone call, he would have some good news to share.

So instead of instantly returning the call, he got dressed and headed towards the Dahl.

The crowd tonight was small, as usual. Vex walked over to the bar and banged him open palm against it. "One of your finest ales, barkeep."

Trick shot him a dirty look and begrudgingly took a glass and poured him a drink from the tap. He slid it across the countertop and Vex took a long gulp.

"Say, aren't you a little understaffed around here?"

Rolling his eyes, Trick said, "I wouldn't hire you in an eon."

"Not me, to be sure. I'm good on that front. You see, I've met someone who's looking for a little money. I'm sure you'd be happy to have him. And it'd make you look good to one of your favorite patrons!"

Before Trick could respond, Tamsin burst between them. "I need a double coke and whiskey, and two shots of tequila."

"Hello Tamsin," Trick greeted her. "I thought we talked last night about you slowing down a bit?"

"The tequila isn't for me," Tamsin said, jabbing a finger over her shoulder. Vex and Trick followed her pointing extremity to a table where a red headed woman sat, bent over the table at such an angle as to clearly see down her shirt. "But I still need that drink for myself. That one's a firecracker."

"Are you sure you should be doing this? It's only been a week since you and Bo…"

"Please don't lecture me on this. As if Bo isn't off somewhere, succubus-ing it up with whoever she meets. If I want your advice, I'd ask for it. But considering we're on opposing sides of the Fae, I'm not your daughter." Tamsin said pointedly.

Trick took the major hint and poured her the drinks in silence. The look he gave her as he handed them over rivaled the way he greeted Vex.

As Tamsin walked back to her table, Trick turned his attention back to Vex. "Now, you want me to believe that you're trying to do something altruistic for someone else? That's a laugh, Vex."

"I'm being serious. Dyson's son needs gainful employment, and I told him that I'd talk to you about getting him on here."

That seemed to startle Trick. "What are you doing with Dyson's son?"

"Let's just say that we've gotten to know each other recently, and the poor lad needs somewhere to work. So what do you say? You in?"

"I suppose I could give him a shot. Tell him to be here tomorrow night and I'll see how he handles things." Trick picked up a rag and started wiping down the counter. "This isn't a promise, because I don't think you're being completely honest here."

"Think what you want, but he'll be here tomorrow and wow the pants off you. He's really good with his hands," Vex said with a wink, before turning and heading out of the Dahl without bothering to pay for his drink. His hands went to his pocket, found his phone, and he prepared himself for the conversation ahead.


	4. Chapter 4: Missing Persons

Chapter Four: Missing Persons

When the phone rang, Mark all but dived for it. His skin and hair had dried completely by then, but he remained motionless on the couch, still clad in only the towel. Seeing Vex's name flash across the screen made his heart melt. Finally!

"Vex!" he shouted. A small part of his mind thought this might be an allusion, and that filled him with a sense of dread.

"Hello there! Good news, Trick wants you to come in for work tomorrow night!"

Vex's words confused Mark at first. Then he remembered the conversation about working at the Dahl. "Oh, thanks!" He said, and followed that up with, "When am I going to see you again?"

"Ah, he already misses me?" Vex cooed into the phone.

"Please, can you come over?"

"Well, consider me on my way." There was a moment of silence, and then Vex added, "You OK love? You sound a little frazzled."

"No, I'm fine now. I just need you right now." Mark knew how crazy he sounded, and tried to recover by adding, "I'd just really like to thank you. You know, in person."

"See you soon, love," Vex said and hung up the phone.

Mark let his phone slip from his hand and fall to the sofa. He felt a wave of relief wash over him, all the while knowing how ridiculous he should be feeling. This had to be some form of bipolar disorder, but he'd never had any such symptoms in the past.

Pushing the thoughts down, he needed to get on some clothes. Not that Vex would mind what he currently wore, but putting on something, anything, might help him regain some sense of normalcy. That was important to him now. He needed to feel grounded.

Moving into the bedroom, he rummaged through his drawers until he found a tank top and a pair of sweat pants. Sliding into them did help calm his nerves.

A knock at the door sent him scrambling across the apartment, banging into the coffee table on his way. A lightning bolt of pain snaked its way through his body but that did nothing to slow him down. He threw open the door and jumped into Vex's arms.

"Woah there," Vex said, allowing Mark to fall into him.

"Vex, please, come in. I need to talk to you. Something's going on with me," Mark said, leading the two of them to the couch. "I've been feeling very unstable since I left your place earlier."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't exactly say. It's been a weird day. I've been feeling jittery, and for something reason I keep thinking that last night was just a onetime thing."

"That's insane!" Vex leaned over and kissed Mark on the forehead. He wasn't sure what was going on with Mark, but it was evident that he needed comfort. Motioning for Mark to lie down on the cushions, he placed the shifter's head in his lap and began toying with his hair. "We are on the same page about the two of us, I promise. Hell, if I had my way, you'd be living with me already."

"I know, I just…" He twisted around until he looked up at Vex. "It's like my emotions inverted."

"I do occasionally have that effect on people," Vex said, testing the waters with a like joke. Mark closed his eyes and buried his face in the fabric of Vex's shirt, but Vex caught the smile angling the corner of his lip before it disappeared.

Mark was silent, and Vex thought he fell asleep on him. He tried to move out from beneath him. An arm shot up and gripped Vex's shoulder. Mark's other arm curled around Vex's neck, and he pulled himself up until they were eye level with each other.

"Feeling better, then?"

"It's like, now that you're here, everything from before just fades away. I feel like myself again."

"Now that we've past that, shall we say little episode, I'd rather like a tour of your humble abode." Vex pried himself away from Mark and rose from the couch.

Mark followed him like a puppy, letting Vex take his own path through the small, two room apartment. He watched Vex survey the small kitchen in the corner of the main room before raising his eyes to the wide open bedroom door.

"Let's?"

Now Mark's smile stretched clear across his face. "Let's."

By the time they crossed the threshold, Mark was naked and Vex was nearing the same state. While he still fiddled with the buttons on his black pants, Mark shoved him to the bed. "Allow me to help you with that," he said, dropping to his knees. He kissed around Vex's navel, hungrily licking at the flesh of his stomach.

Moving down to his pants, Mark started working his teeth around the buttons, prying them loose and flashing manic grins up to Vex with each small success. Vex enjoyed the show, placing both hands behind his head, propping him up for a better view.

Getting to the last button, he got the pants to the floor and pounced on top of the Mesmer, making the bed springs creak and groan. They rolled along the comforter, wrestling for dominance, turning sex into a game.

"Too old this?" Mark kidded, pinning Vex to the bed.

"Really? That's what you're going with?" Vex laughed, and with a twitch of his hand Mark found himself rolling off him without a fight.

They lost themselves in each other's flesh and lips, and the world fell away. By the time they concluded, Mark had completely forgotten about the sharp pain in his neck, and the way what should have been a wound showed no results at the base of his neck.

* * *

><p>Dyson and Tamsin walked into the woods, on their way to the crime scene. All they knew was that a body was discovered, that it looked like it had been dead for a long time, and from what the initial officer on scene could decipher, it was most likely an animal attack. They trudged through the underbrush, pushing branches out of their way.<p>

"Had to leave the body in the thickest part of the woods, didn't it?" Tamsin said. She wasn't too fond of animals. Or people, if she were being honest. But a job was a job, and over the course of her many lives, she never quite managed to save up any money.

"Listen, Tamsin, if you want to talk about what happened," Dyson started.

Tamsin held up a hand to silence him. "Nope. Gonna stop you there."

"I've been through everything you're going through," Dyson pressed forward. "So I'll leave you alone for now, but just know that if you need to talk, I'm available."

"Oh thank gods, the crime scene!" Tamsin said in a chipper voice.

The yellow tape stretched across about a third of an acre in the woods. Two beat cops roamed on the far side, picking through the fallen leaves for any clues. In the center of the yellow triangle, a body sat crumpled. The skin was so decayed it had begun slipping from the bone, but from what remained it definitely appeared as though something had taken some large bites out of it.

One of the cops walked over to them. "The vic is male, probably in his mid-twenties. From the state of the body, it's been out here a long time. At least a month. We've been waiting on you to search the body for any form of identification."

Dyson ducked under the tape to search the body while Tamsin hung back to scan the environment. A couple evidence flags had already been placed around the small plot, and she went to each in turn. The first looked like human tracks, spaced far apart. This person had been running from his attacker until he got taken down. The second one showed some kind of animal foot print. It looked like a wolf's print, but different. She took out her cell phone and took a couple pictures to be analyzed later. She'd seen natural wolves' prints before, and even Dyson's, but these were bigger.

Meeting Dyson at the body, she saw the bite marks that were still viable to be studied also ran larger than a typical wolf's bites.

"Any ID?" she asked, her voice giving off her trademark air of boredom.

"None that I can find," Dyson said, trying to keep his head at an angle somewhat upwind of the body. "You check out those flags?"

"Yeah, some interesting tracks over that way," she waved her hand at the second flag. "Snagged a few pics, I'll look into it later."

Dyson lowered his voice. "Something Fae?"

"It has potential."

They spent the next hour looking around the scene, asking the cops present what they had noticed, if they had any thoughts. Both of them were pretty much useless in that department, which didn't surprise either detective. Besides the tracks and the body, there was nothing much else to look at, so they decided to return to the station and get started on their paperwork. By that time the CSI had shown up and began their work.

"We'll need some facial reconstruction, try to figure out who this guy was," Dyson was telling the lead tech who looked like she was trying to refrain from rolling her eyes.

"Yes, we'll get right on that, as soon as we get the body back for examination," the lady responded flatly.

The two detectives made their way back through the woods, and Dyson thought he might try bringing up the succubus subject once more. "I know you two both love the Dahl, but if some sort of truce isn't reached here soon, it's going to feel more like a battlefield than a pub. Trick isn't going to like that."

Instead of mentioning anything about Bo, Tamsin took a slightly different approach. "You know what, the Dahl is an interesting place. I mean, just last night I saw the most unlikely duo sharing some beverages."

Dyson had no idea what she was talking about. "What do you mean?"

Tamsin stopped her trample through the thicket and gave Dyson a smug grin, crossing her arms over her chest.

"What is it?" Dyson asked. He knew this pose, as he'd seen it several times over. "What did you see?"

"That handsome son of yours? Looked like he was on a date."

The wolf took a couple threatening strides towards her. "Stop playing around."

"Well, Mark was making heart eyes at your buddy Vex."

A growl emerged from deep within Dyson's throat. Tamsin watched as his hands curled into tight fists at his side, and he let out a long, angry sigh. "You better not be fucking with me."

"Oh, honey, you're so not my type."

* * *

><p>A call came in prior to sundown.<p>

Kenzi was upstairs getting ready, and while Bo hated the thought of brushing off her friend, she hadn't even started on taking those shots that would give her the courage to go clubbing, and the caller sounded urgent. Bo made the appointment for an hour from then, and hung up the phone just as Kenzi waltzed down the stairs.

"You aren't even dressed yet? Ashton is meeting us in like, twenty minutes!"

"Kenzi…"

"No, no! Don't you even say you're not going. You have to go!"

"I just got a call from a potential client. Missing person case."

"You won't go out to a club and have the greatest night of your life, but a missing person will get you out of the clubhouse?"

Bo sighed. "I just need something to distract me, and solving someone else's problems sounds like a much better way to do that than trying to ignore my own."

Kenzi slumped against the wall. "I guess I can understand that. We all deal with these things in our own way. So, I'll tell you what. Ashton and I will scope out this new club, and if it doesn't totally suck ass, we make a date for later. Deal?"

Smiling, Bo nodded her assent.

"Great!" Kenzi danced over to Bo and planted a kiss on her cheek, then headed out the door, swiping a clutch on the way.

Bo began dressing for the part of private investigator, or at least her interpretation. Knee high black leather boots over black skinny jeans, a thick belt around her hips with a dark purple long sleeves shirt with a plunging neckline, and a short black jacket completed the look. Just to be on the safe side she tucked a dagger in the top of her right boot and another up the left sleeve.

She arrived at the address she was given a few minutes early, to scope it out. The man who had called her about his missing daughter sounded sincere, but that never really meant anything. Bo had her share of people in the past who were outwardly one way while being completely different on the inside.

Everything looked legit, so she headed up to the front door and knocked loudly three times. There was a small scuffling from inside the house, as of someone moving hurriedly to the door.

The wooden rectangle opened revealing a short man in wire-framed glasses. Despite his height, and slender build, Bo's breath caught at how beautiful he was. His features were almost unearthly. She found herself lost in his ocean blue eyes, and didn't hear him greet her.

"Hello?" he said again.

"Sorry, hi. I'm Bo."

"Kendrick. I am so happy that you could come on such short notice."

"Of course," Bo stepped, stepping into the foyer when he stepped back to allow her. The small entranceway was dominated by a large fountain covering one entire wall. "Your home is gorgeous," she whispered.

"I get that a lot," he said, beckoning her further inside.

They passed a large aquarium in the hall, filled with various sea life. "Is that a salt water tank?" Bo asked, impressed.

"Good eye! Yes, indeed it is."

They sat down on chairs straddling a fireplace that was unlit. He brought over a tray and offered her tea, which she politely declined. Pouring himself a glass with just a small pinch of sugar, he said, "So let's get down to business. I've heard that you deal with unusual cases. And of course I'm familiar with the reputation of the unaligned succubus."

"Charmed," Bo said. "So can I ask what this is about?"

"My daughter, Morgan, is missing."

Bo leaned forward. "How long has she been gone? A couple days…?"

"It's been about five years now."

"And you're just reporting it to someone now?"

"We are a rare sect of water sprites," he said. "It's custom among our people to take long journeys through the oceans of the world. Sometimes alone, more often with a partner or group of friends. She's been gone for long stretches of time before, but never this long." Kendrick took a long, thoughtful sip of his tea.

"If she's taken long leaves of absence before, what leads you to suspect this time is any different?"

"She went with her two best friends, Ronaldo and Eva. About a week ago, I reached out to see if I could contact them. I found them, but they acted strange."

"How?"

"They both acted like the three of them had never been friends, as if something wedged itself between them. Both claimed to haven't seen or heard from her in at least six months. In that amount of time she should have found her way back to me, but she hasn't." Kendrick set his cup down on its saucer, tearing brimming at the corners of his eyes.

"So you have contact information for them?" Bo asked.

He reached to a side table and retrieved a manila folder. They stood and met halfway, and Kendrick slid the folder into Bo's hand.

"I can't make any promises, other than I will try my hardest to find out what happened to Morgan," Bo said. "Trust me, I have a very good team behind me. We will do everything we can."

Kendrick looked relived, and showed her back to the front door.


	5. Chapter 5: Night in the Club

Chapter Five: Night in the Club

"It's called Discord?" Kenzi shouted over the multiple voices ringing out from the queue in front of the club.

"Yeah, I heard it's supposed to represent the Golden Apple," Ashton replied. When Kenzi shot him a confused look, he added, "It's some Greek mythology thing. Just go with it." He leaned in closer, and said, hoping they wouldn't be overheard, "I hear there's a secret basement section for Fae only. Hopefully I have enough blood in me to get us in."

"Sounds like a party, big man!" Kenzi said, and they crept slowly towards the front door.

She took in the exterior of the club. It was all heavily tinted glass with chrome highlights. Peering in, she could make out random flashes of light and roughly the shapes of people dancing, but nothing was clear. It was infuriating, but she supposed it was designed to be that way.

Eventually, they found their way in, and the first thing Kenzi thought was, Wow! Bo would love this place! She didn't have the succubus sex sense, but this place radiated the same energy as the bacchanal they visited a while back. It was exciting, knowing that she was a part of something new, something that didn't have to deal with death and murder. She let herself give in to the music and started dancing, tugging on Ashton's sleeve, a signal to follow her lead. He followed, and they danced for what seemed like hours and minutes at the same time, before she noticed he kept glancing towards a dark corner.

The corner in question was one which every now and then, a person or a small group would approach. They entered the darkness the area seemed to be cloaked in, and then never re-emerged. Normally, Kenzi would take this as a bad sign, but she remembered Ashton's words, and thought it might be fun to have a Fae rave. That's something she hadn't experienced before, and was genuinely curious about.

"You want to go ahead and try it?" she asked, screaming to be heard over the music.

"Not just quite yet. Let's grab a drink first," Ashton said, nodding his head towards the bar in rhythm with the music, a cute smirk on his face.

"Sounds great to me," Kenzi agreed, and they made their way to the bar.

When they ordered their drinks and settled into a high-topped table, Kenzi said, "So you know, Bo kind of made a good point today."

"Oh yeah, what's that?"

"I don't want you to get the wrong idea or anything – I really like spending time with you. But I don't even know what you do for a living?" Kenzi cringed even asking the question.

Ashton cocked his head and said, "We haven't talked about this? Weird, I feel like I've known you for a lot longer than we actually have." This made Kenzi smile, and relax. "I work for an art curator, located not too far from here. I had to run earlier because I got a text while I was in the shower and had to pick up a piece for him."

Kenzi allowed herself to take a nice, long swig, and soaked in the data. It could have been the sudden rush of alcohol, or hearing that Ashton had a perfectly normal day job, but something within her weakened, and she allowed herself to feel at peace with that voice inside her telling her something was off. Bo wasn't the only one who noticed it, she was just the only one who voiced the opinion.

"Let's talk about you," Ashton said. "I mean, my job is boring and I'm a part of the Fae world by random genetic chance. You are a private – and paranormal – investigator, who chose to get wrapped up in all of this. How did that happen?"

"Bo. She saved me, took me in. She was my whole world," Kenzi said, but felt her voice waver at the end of the sentence.

"Not to pry, but that didn't sound so sincere," Ashton said. His eyes remained light, but his voice went a tad monotone. He cleared his throat. "Have you dated a Fae before?" He asked, trying to piece the puzzle together.

Kenzi took another drink, slurping up the dregs at the bottom of the glass through the straw. "I have, I'll be honest. But also, that's a discussion for another night. Right now I want to focus on having fun."

"So how about we check out what is going on beneath us?"

"Can't wait."

They forced their way across the crowded dance floor, making Kenzi wonder how the club wasn't at capacity yet. Of course, if the owners had said they had enough space for two floors worth of people, while only planning on letting a small fraction to the second part, this mass would start making sense.

When they arrived at the darkness, it looked as though nothing existed there. They probed through the shadows, and a hand grabbed Kenzi's shoulder. She turned, alarmed, until she realized it was only Ashton.

"Here," he hissed, pulling back a drape hanging on the wall to reveal a narrow corridor.

They followed the hallway. It hooked left and they saw a pair of men standing guard at a door about twenty yards away. Considering their uniforms, the pair were clearly bouncers.

Ashton and Kenzi approached them warily.

"Hi, we're here to join the party," Ashton said, looping an arm through Kenzi's.

One of the bouncers stepped forward and inhaled deeply through his nose. Stepping back, he glanced at his partner before giving a sharp, quick shake of the head.

"Sorry guys," the partner said. "No entry."

Ashton stepped forward. "Look at these eyes man. Please let us in!"

"No entry."

The pair crossed their arms in sync and took a step closer together, completely blocking the door at their backs.

"Come on Ashton, let's get back to the main floor," Kenzi said, taking a few steps in reverse before turning and walking away. After a minute, she didn't hear footsteps following her, and twirled around to see Ashton basically pleading with the bouncers.

"Ashton!" she called.

He twisted his head over his shoulder and said, "You know what, you're right, Kenz. Let's go back."

She wondered why he hesitated, why he was so eager to be acknowledged as Fae. He lived in this world his whole life, so why wasn't he used to this kind of treatment? He might not be completely truthful with her, and after everything she had been through she just wanted a nice, drama-free relationship. But if he wanted this acceptance so badly, there might be another option, she just needed to find a quiet place where she could use her phone.

The space just behind the curtain leading out to the main floor was quiet enough, and she told Ashton to go ahead to the bar and get them another round, that she had a call to make. He gave her a quizzical look but complied.

As he walked away, Kenzi pulled her phone out and clicked on a contact.

A few rings later, she heard, "Yeah, Vex here."

"Hey," she said. "I need you to come to this new club. It's called Discord."

"I'm a bit tied up. Or, I have a special someone a bit tied up, if you catch my drift." Vex laughed from his end. "I think I'd like to get back to that, if you don't mind."

"I still have that ebony handled brush you gave me. If you deny me now, it's going into the fire."

"That's not playing fair!"

"You have twenty minutes. And tell Mark to towel off." Kenzi snapped her phone shut and went to the bar, where Ashton had her drink waiting for her.

The club swirled around her, and she felt happy that she was giving Ashton his first present from her. And she it would have an impact, and draw them closer together. Well, as long as he didn't think that she was going behind his back to give him something he wanted to obtain on his own. For some reason though, she didn't think that would be the case. All he wanted was to belong in a world he felt entitled to, and that was something she understood perfectly.

"So I have a surprise for you," she said, confident that Vex would show. With or without Mark, that didn't matter. She supported the couple, but Mark was still basically a stranger to her.

"What kind of surprise?" Ashton asked. She could tell he felt defeated, and was just going along with her.

She leaned in and kissed him. "We're going to get in. Downstairs."

His eyes lit up. "Are you serious? And just how are we managing that? Did Bo say she's on her way?"

"Not Bo, no. But I did give Vex a call, and he's on his way. Perhaps plus one."

"Vex?" Something in the way his voice went up an octave at the end of that syllable made Kenzi second guess herself. He was apparently going to get offended by this after all. She thought back to last night, and how she felt she said something wrong. Did it have something to do with Vex? And if so, what? Ashton saw him making out with Mark just as much as she did, so he had no reason to feel threatened. Unless…

"Do you think when I said that I was involved with a Fae before… do you think I meant Vex?" Kenzi asked, trying to suppress laughter because she saw the look blooming on Ashton's face.

"Were you?"

"Oh God no!" Kenzi barked, failing at the whole keeping-a-straight-face thing. "No, no. Vex? No. He and I have some history, it's true, but nothing more than him showing me almost everything I now revere about make up. And you saw him, he's totally into Mark. Seriously, don't worry about him. The only reason I called him was because it looked like you were pretty bummed out about not getting into the secret part of this club, and he can make it happen."

Ashton downed the rest of his drink, but clouds remained on his face. "OK, but if I see the guy get handsy, then I'm going to have to step in."

"Trust me, the closest his hands have gotten to me had been to apply my mascara."

"Alright then, trust is the name of the game. Dance with me until he shows up?"

"Absolutely," Kenzi said, and allowed herself to be dragged back to the floor, only to get swept up in the music again.

A little while later, she got a tap on the shoulder and spun to see Vex. Mark stood behind him, as if using Vex as a shield. Mark had seemed self-assured enough the night before, so she didn't know what was going on now. Either way, she was glad to see them. If the limit to the basement was only one per Fae, they would both now be guaranteed access.

"Hey boys," Kenzi cried, hugging Vex quickly and whispering a thank you in his ear. "Come on, Ashton, let's lead them to where the real party is!"

The four of them returned to the hallway, which was more brightly lit than the dance floor. Kenzi noticed Vex was dressed in his finest party-going outfit, all black leather and straps and buckles. In contrast to that walked Mark, who while looked great in a white t-shirt and hoodie, didn't hold the festive flame Vex always carried high.

When they approached the bouncers, the one breathed deeply, then stepped aside to grant them all entrance.

If Kenzi thought the upstairs portion of this club was incredible, the basement blew that notion out of the water. Everything down there glittered in the strobe lights. Every time lights flared all she could make out was a confusion of limbs throwing themselves up into the air, like detached things with minds of their own.

The music had a magic to it, and pulsed with life and the energy of reckless abandon. She was drawn to the floor, shedding her male companions without a second thought. She disappeared into the crowd, which admittedly was substantially less than the floor above.

She felt separated from her body, and gyrated against whomever she came into contact with.

When she came to, she saw that she danced with Vex. Looking around for Ashton, she saw that he was nowhere to be found. "Where is everyone? What just happened to me?"

"Fae music. You've only heard the weak shit. This is powerful enough to even get myself a little love drunk." Vex called. "As for your boy, I'm not sure. Mark went to grab the two of us a beer."

Kenzi struggled to keep control of her body. She danced away from Vex and blended into the crowd again, scanning for her boyfriend. After a few minutes of searching, she finally found Ashton, dancing by himself a couple feet from the main throng. It was kind of sexy, though, watching him dance like that, like he had a partner, albeit an invisible one. She wanted more than anything to make her way over to him, but the way his eyes were trained on something in the distance made her wait.

She tried to follow his gaze, but it became difficult. There were so many bodies, all dancing in the flickering light, that he could be staring at any one of them. His eyes were so focused, so intense, that she found she needed to find out what he was looking at.

A change of perspective might help, she thought. So she circled around a bit, finding herself on another wall. Ashton hadn't changed, dancing along with someone he watched, not missing a beat, the invisible partner still in his arms. She thought she should just go over and dance with him, just slide into that blank space between his limbs and see what happened.

That's when she caught sight of the person Ashton was following. From this new position it was a clear line of sight.

Her breath caught in her throat, and she wanted to get out. What she saw didn't make sense, not after all the conversation she held that night, but still… there it was. Not saying a word to anyone, she found the exit, and slunk back to her apartment.

After all, there was always a catch. Especially in her world.


	6. Chapter 6: Ritualistic

Chapter Six: Ritualistic

A/N: Thanks to everyone for checking out my story! I just wanted to take a second to say that while the last couple chapters seemed like they had nothing to do with each other, or the overall plot of this story, but I promise that it all ties together in the end! If you have comments or suggestions for what you'd like to see, drop a review!

It sat in its workroom, this time in moonlight.

In front of it sat the table, bone fragments still in place. The hand reached up, holding a dark hair, the true color indistinguishable, to the moonlight. Its face moved in close, sniffing at the loose strand, its lips twisting into a smile. Yes, it had found the correct hair.

Picking up a fragment from the table, it wound the hair around it, using amazingly dexterous fingers to tie it.

It whispered a few phrases in a foreign language, and picked up a plastic cage, placing it directly in the largest moon beam reaching the table. Inside, crawling along the fake miniature landscape, roamed a large tarantula. Flipping open the top latch, the worker picked up the fragment wrapped in hair, and dropped it in the cage before slamming the latch shut.

The spider rushed over to the bone, wrapping its hairy body around it, and set to work.

Leaning back, the only thing that could be seen were the worker's teeth, shining in the bright moonlight. Soon, everything it wanted, it would have.

* * *

><p>Mark and Vex returned to Vex's place, and if Mark had been using the Mesmer as a shield before, not he actually ducked behind him.<p>

"Oh shit," Vex managed to say as the punch landed square on his jaw. To his credit, he was able to stay standing. He took another jab to the gut, then said, "Alright, alright, enough," holding his hands up in surrender.

Dyson's eyes were on fire. Mark was equal parts horrified and humiliated. Just because he was Mark's father, he didn't believe that they had known each other long enough for him to get this paternal so quickly.

"Dad!"

"Mark," Dyson said quietly, "stay out of this. I'll deal with you later."

Vex put his arm out, freezing Dyson to the spot. "Now, now, Papa Bear, let's all just calm down."

"I swear Vex, let me go or I will hunt you down."

"There's no reason we can't all be reasonable here," Vex said, not relinquishing his control. "Marky is a grown man, he can make his own decisions."

"Who did you even hear about this from anyway?" Mark asked. Damn, he thought, word travels fast around here.

"Tamsin."

Vex finally let go and Dyson's body went less rigid. He shook himself off. "Mark, can I talk to you for a second? In private?"

Mark gave Vex a look, and received a gentle nod. "Go ahead. I'll be inside when you're done."

As Vex ducked inside, Dyson took Mark's arm and led him several feet away. Mark tried to read his father's body language, but he hadn't known him long enough. Rage was evident, but beyond that the wolf was surprisingly hard to read.

"What do you think you're doing?" Dyson hissed.

"Who do you think you are?"

"I think I'm your father. And I also think that I know Vex a lot better than you do, and he's not the sort of person that I'd like to see you with."

Mark swallowed, hard. "Are you saying that because he's a guy?"

"What? No!" Dyson said.

"Then what is it, what about Vex is so horrible that you don't want me to spend time with him? Since I've moved here, he's been the only person, yes, that includes you," Mark said, jabbing a finger into his father's chest, "that has actually taken the time to get to know me. Why am I even standing here talking to you?"

"Because I'm trying to do what's best for you!"

"How could you possibly know what's best for me when you haven't made any attempt to get to know me?" By then they both were screaming, calling the attention of passer-bys.

Noticing this, they ducked within a side alley.

"There's been a lot going on. I am trying to make time for you, but I just haven't been able to do so just yet. Soon, though…" Dyson said, his voice quieter now.

"Well, let me tell you," Mark returned, his voice still high and tight. "Vex has time for me now. So when you're able to spare more than a few punches, I'll hear you out. Until then, stay out of my personal business." Without waiting for a response, Mark stormed out of the alleyway.

Walking into the entrance of Vex's building, Mark felt himself stumble and crashed into the wall. His father's words stung more than he let on, and now they came bubbling to the surface, and his mind filled with doubt. Of course, he knew, deep down, that he could trust Vex more than his own father at this point, because even though they've only known each other a short time, the time they spent reverberated more within him than the collection of moments he'd shared with dear old Dad.

There was something more than that, however, that weighed on Mark's mind. It was as if someone had planted a seed in him. This whole time, since he danced with Vex at the Black Ball, he had been toying with the idea of giving this man his love. He wanted to, and every fiber of his being wanted him to, but still he gave pause.

This was the sort of conversation was what he yearned to have with his father. But his father was over a thousand years old, and from what he'd gleamed from his few friends was that Dyson had yet to give his love to anyone. Here Mark stood, a fraction of that age, and wanting to give his love so freely. Did this make him less of a shifter, this urge to fall in love so deeply and so suddenly?

So he was torn between going up those stairs and deciding to go home. It boiled down to listening between his heart and his blood. Dyson showing up tonight could possibly be a sign, to signal him that he traveled down the wrong path.

But also, the animosity with which his father attacked Vex… it made Mark fill with uncertainty.

He felt like he couldn't breathe, and his vision started shaking. His blood pulsed heavily at his temples. His face flushed, as if he was being overpowered by a force he couldn't comprehend.

Footsteps echoed down the stairwell.

Mark froze in a panic. The likelihood of that sound belonging to Vex was probable, but the shifter didn't want to know for sure.

He was running without realizing he started. The buildings passed by him in a haze. Sweat beaded along his brow, and he used one arm to swipe it away. Almost bumping into several people on his way, he finally made it back to his apartment building. Rushing to his unit, he felt his phone buzzing in his pocket.

Checking the face, he saw Vex was calling. Hesitantly, he ignored the call, noticing that it wasn't the first call he'd missed.

Instead of talking, he didn't think he could bring himself to that, he let himself inside and fell to the couch. He opened up his text messages, pulled up Vex's number, and sent him a simple, "I'm sorry. Talk later."

His emotions were all over the place, bouncing from one extreme to another. How was this happening to him? He thought again. This was so utterly unlike how he's acted in the past in relationships, it scared him.

Clutching a cushion to his chest, he sprawled out on the couch and tried his best to fall asleep. After all, tomorrow he'd be starting his job at the Dahl and he couldn't screw up this opportunity like he had the last. Then he recalled that Vex was the person responsible for this second chance, and a wave of guilt snaked its way through him.

Just go to bed, he told himself. Things will look different in the morning.

* * *

><p>"Good, you're dressed. Want to help me with a case?" Bo asked when she saw Kenzi enter the kitchen.<p>

"Bo, I need to talk to you about something."

"Absolutely. You know how seriously I take that phrase from you since Inari, but can we walk and talk? I'm running late for an appointment," Bo said, grabbing various objects off the counters and stuffing them into her bag.

"Sure," Kenzi replied, and they began walking through the city in the early morning sunlight. "Who makes an appointment this early?"

"Apparently water sprites are morning people," Bo said. "Oh, how was the club last night?"

"Well, Discord is an accurate enough name for it."

"So it wasn't all that fun?"

"No, we had a blast, until the end. Something strange is going on with Ashton."

Bo could sense Kenzi was down playing whatever it was that happened last night, but didn't understand why. They were normally able to freely share whatever crossed their minds and now Kenzi said she wanted to talk, but something stalled her.

"Kenz, what's going on?"

"There's a secret basement section of the club, for Fae only. They wouldn't let Ashton in since his lineage was too weak, and he got a little weird. I thought that we got over it because I invited Vex and Mark to come so we could get in…"

"A secret Fae level of a night club? Now that sounds like my cup of tea." Bo said. "Why do I sense it lacked in the fun department?"

"The music was weird and affected me in some strange way. I basically lost myself like never before, and then I was dancing. With Vex, with Mark, with strangers. When I found Ashton, he was off on his own."

Bo stopped, waiting for the light to change so she could cross the street, and turned to her friend. "What's so wrong about needing a little alone time?"

"He was dancing, and it looked like he had a partner but he didn't," Kenzi said, and felt the familiar chill creep up her spine. "He just spun, and it looked like he mirrored someone out on the floor. I tried to see who he was looking at, and…"

The light turned and they hurried across the street. "OK, that's a little weird, but who was he copying?"

"Every move he made was completely in sync with Vex, of all people."

"OK, that's very weird. What did he say when you asked him about it?"

Kenzi fell silent and picked up her pace to get along side Bo. "Where are we going again?"

"It's a little café just up the road, question-dodger. You did ask him, didn't you?"

Kenzi's continued silence was enough of an answer. She seemed to draw into herself, and Bo knew it would be best to stop prying. "Well, you'll have to call him eventually. He seems really into you."

"I know," Kenzi said. "Is this the place?"

Bo almost walked right past it. "Sure enough."

"Can you tell me who we're meeting, so it's not a huge surprise?"

Bo gave her a quick break down of her meeting with Kendrick. "I called Ronaldo and Eva, but they wouldn't agree to meet together. Something is definitely up here, and I'm curious as to what he has to say. I'm getting a very eerie feeling about this case."

"Alright, well let's get this over with," Kenzi said as her phone went off.

"Ashton?"

"Yeah, but he can wait. Let's get our detective on!"

They ducked inside the café and found Ronaldo easily enough. He had the same beautiful appeal as Kendrick, except where Kendrick had pale, nearly ghost-white skin, Ronaldo's skin was a deep caramel. Bo heard Kenzi gasp a little as they walked up to the table, forgetting to tell her about the attractiveness of this particular species.

"Ronaldo? Hi, I'm Bo," she said. He stood up from the table and they shook hands. "This is my associate, Kenzi. Thank you so much for meeting us here."

"Let me be clear about one thing," Ronaldo said with an air of no-bullshit, "I'm not here because Morgan and I might have used to be friends, but because I hate seeing one of our kind lost."

"OK!" Kenzi exclaimed, giving Bo a sideways glance.

"I understand," Bo said. "So why don't we get started. You, Morgan, and Eva went on one of your long ocean exploration trips, but the three of you didn't return together. And so far, Morgan hasn't returned at all."

"I was the first one to split from them, about three years in. I don't know exactly what happened, but it was almost as if they were pushing me away. I didn't appreciate being cut out of swims and dives, and after awhile I got sick of it. One morning I awoke and they had just left me behind. I tried going after them but it was useless. Our species is excellent at covering our tracks. If we don't want to be found, you won't find us." Ronaldo's fingers trailed the rim of the coffee cup on the table.

"Do you have any idea what happened, why they would turn on you like that? According to Kendrick, the three of you had been on many trips together without a hitch."

Kenzi's phone rang again. "Shit, sorry, sorry," she apologized, placing the phone on silent.

"I don't know, and honestly I don't care. Before they left, our friendship had already ended. It just took me a while to figure it out. It was like my feelings for them slowly dissolved without me even realizing it. And now that it's been severed, I have no intention of trying to restore it."

Bo leaned forward. "That's interesting. Do you know of any Fae that might have that power? That kind of control over such strong bonds?"

"If I cared, I probably would have looked into it. But as I've said, it's over. Any other questions?"

Bo and Kenzi shared a look, then Bo said, "No, I guess we've got all we can. Again, thank you so much for your time. It's much appreciated."

They stood to leave, and when Bo was only halfway out of her seat, Ronaldo grabbed her hand, halting her ascent. He moved in close to her, his mouth directly next to her ear. "I don't give two fucks what happened to Morgan, I believe I've made that crystal clear. But Kendrick is a decent man, and he's helped me out several times over the past century or so. Please do whatever you can to ease his pain."

Locking eyes with him, Bo said, "I promise."


	7. Chapter 7: Begging for Thread

Chapter Seven: Begging for Thread

With Dyson sulking from his encounter with his son last night, Tamsin was alone in the near silent morgue. The only sound came from the fluorescent lighting, a faint, mildly irritating buzz that she couldn't quite shake off.

The John Doe lay out on the slab in front of her. Facial reconstruction was in progress, but they haven't finished yet. Tamsin spent last night pouring over missing person files from what appeared to be his time of death, but found nothing. Plenty of people slipped through the cracks of society without leaving a trace, but everyone knew someone, so hopefully with the aid of a living human face to put on this body, they'd be able to at least identify him.

Tamsin stood at his feet, holding the clipboard in one hand. She'd been over the notes so many times the words were scorched into her memory, but she kept a hand on them just the same.

Fact: The victim's feet were a good two sizes smaller than the imprints they had found at the scene. So that meant there were three people present at the time, or at least two people and one Fae. The body was one hundred percent human, Tamsin had rushed those tests in secret. So a wolf-like Fae chased the victim through the woods, or more accurately carried him, as John Doe left no tracks of his own. After that someone ran away from the scene.

The trouble with this scenario was the absence of John Doe's prints. So how had be gotten there? Not wanting to put up with Dyson's constant whining, she had sent him back out to the woods about an hour ago, so hopefully he'd be able to shed some light on that situation. She told him to send her any pictures the moment he found them.

So far there's been no word.

The Fae's prints were interesting too. She made Dyson run a thorough analysis of them, but he couldn't seem to figure out what species they came from. He even compared them to his own shifted prints, and found what Tamsin initially thought: his were too small. So it wasn't a shifter, and as far as Tamsin knew from her vast knowledge of the Fae world, actual werewolves didn't exist. Not that she hadn't been surprised before, but she thought that might be a stretch.

No, something else was the cause of this. When she called Trick, he had agreed to help by searching through his extensive library. She had photos sent to him but yet again, has heard nothing.

Fact: The bites on the victim's limbs and abdomen happened post-mortem. Now, there were plenty of Fae murderers that devoured corpses, but none had such a scattered M.O.

She bent down to study the gashes in the dead flesh. The tooth marks were irregular, which was inconsistent with wolf fangs. Each wound looked like it could have come from a different animal, which Tamsin thought highly unlikely. The body hadn't been exposed to the elements for very long before it was found, and the wildlife in that part of the woods wasn't diverse as it should be.

Tamsin went to a nearby computer and pulled up her file containing the various Fae bite marks she compiled yesterday afternoon. She flicked through them, again, trying to find whatever could be close. Like the last time, nothing matched.

"Fuck it," she said out loud. Nothing was adding up for them.

Turning towards her case file instead of the body for this last part, she re-read for the umpteenth time the most puzzling part of it all.

Fact: The victim died from drowning.

They found the victim miles from any streams or ponds, but his lungs were bloated like water balloons nonetheless. This remained the most unnerving of all the findings from the autopsy. Tamsin knew of so many different kinds of Fae that thrived in an aquatic environment, but with the exception of elementals, none that could traverse so many miles over land while carrying a body of this size… that was impossible. Elementals were powerful beings, for sure, but even they couldn't pull off a stunt like this. They tended to be more physically weak, relying on their connection to nature for any sort of power.

All of these facts just didn't add up for her. There had to be something they were missing, something that she just hadn't seen yet.

So she went back to the body, to examine it one more time. After about half an hour of scouring, she came up with nothing new. This case began to grow into the realm of infuriating, and that made her anger grow.

Hopefully the CSI would have that facial reconstruction done, and soon.

* * *

><p>Vex entered the Dahl, looking for Mark. When Mark didn't return after Dyson confronted the two of them the night before, he grew worried. It was a new emotion for him, one that sent him spiraling into uncomfortable territories he never knew existed in the landscape of his feelings. Mark has sent that text telling him that they'd talk, and he felt remorse, but Vex hoped that this would have happened earlier than his test run at his new job – which Vex had twisted an arm to get for him.<p>

Walking through the doors, the first thing he saw was Mark dropping a tray full of glasses. The shattering of the glass rang and echoed throughout the establishment.

So this will go smoothly, he thought.

Instead of instantly ambushing the man he thought of as his boyfriend, he decided to scan the room first. For the first time in a long while, he did not see Tamsin occupying her usual booth, but he did see Kenzi and Bo playing a round of pool in the corner.

He realized he had a choice, and he found himself at a crossroads he'd rather not be at. On the one hand, he could go to Mark's aid, and risk him being angry at the Mesmer for trying to intervene. On the other, he could go socialize a bit, spark up a conversation with Kenzi and Bo, but risk Mark thinking he was being ignored. He wasn't sure what has made Mark so insecure lately.

Instead, he danced the line of caution. Waving over to Kenzi, he made his way towards the bar, settling into a stool.

Trick stormed over in a beeline. "Vex," he said angrily in hushed tones, "Are you kidding me with this?" He waved at the carpet of broken glass. "This is not the first time something like this has happened tonight! This boy is costing me money."

Across the way, Bo and Kenzi were discussing Ronaldo's odd interview from earlier. "So he's still wishing the father best of luck, but basically saying 'screw you' to his former bestie. What the hell is up with that?" Kenzi asked.

"You should have heard the conversation I had with Eva a couple hours ago. Girl has got some serious anger issues. She refused to even have a sit down with us, much less say one word about Morgan."

Kenzi took a shot, knocking the nine ball into a middle pocket. Circling the table, she said, "We'll just have to force her to talk, then. Her petty bullshit is going to have to be placed on hold, we're talking a potential murder here."

"True that," Bo said, watching Kenzi miss her next shot. She hunkered down over the table, swaying her hips a bit, and took her shot.

On his knees by the bar, Mark worked as quickly as he was able to clean up the broken glass. He cut the palm of his hand, and blood pooled.

Vex lowered himself next to him. "Let me help you with that," he said, reaching for the bloody hand.

Mark jerked it away, as if frightened of the Mesmer.

"Hey now," Vex said, trying to move closer.

Sliding back against the wall, Mark stared at Vex for a minute, his eyes wide. Vex could almost hear the blood racing in his veins. He wanted to try again, but a sudden fear of rejection sprang to the forefront of his mind.

"What did Dyson say to you?" he whispered.

"He didn't say anything I couldn't handle," Mark said. "That wasn't it."

Vex furrowed his brow. "Then what? Did I do something?"

"No," Mark said. "No…"

"Come on, let's go to the barrel room, talk this over. And please let me help you bandage up that hand." His eyes wandered over what was left of the glass. "This isn't going to hurt anybody, we'll be back in a few minutes. OK?"

"OK," Mark agreed, but his attention already seemed to be fading. Something seriously bothered him, and Vex needed to figure out what it was. Could this all have been caused by him debating about giving away his love?

As they walked into the back room, the main doors opened again and Ashton came through, scanning the crowd.

"Ah, shit," Kenzi said, ducking behind a pillar.

"Have you not spoken to him about his weirdo episode last night?" Bo asked incredulously. "You were burning hot for him until one strange thing happened, why put him on hold for so long?"

"He just called too many times, you know? Like, after you miss too many calls you know when you finally return it, that'll be the most awkward conversation?"

"I get that but Kenz, he's hot, he seems smart enough, and he's super into you. Just go talk to him."

"No!"

"Really?" Bo turned towards Ashton, and waved. "Hey! She's over here!" To Kenzi, she said, "I'll go buy you guys a pitcher, take a seat." When Kenzi glowered at her, she added, "I'm only looking out for you, bestie."

Reaching the bar, Bo noticed the presence of still-broken glass and absence of Mark cleaning it up. Trick looked a little more harried than normal, but still managed a smile for his granddaughter as she order the pitcher for her friend, and a glass of wine for herself.

"So Mark seems to be… here," she said, searching for a compliment and failing. She felt the deepest sympathy for the young Fae, but watching him here tonight put very little faith in his bussing abilities. "You're so sweet for giving him a job."

"So far, it's about halfway up on my biggest regrets of all time. And that's saying something," Trick murmured, filling the pitcher and pushing it across the bar.

"I'm going to run this over there while you pour my glass," Bo excused herself, rushing the beer to what indeed did look like a very awkward conversation in progress, and then returned to Trick.

"I'm just saying I freaked a little, OK? I'm allowed to freak when I've only known you for a short time," Kenzi said, talking with her hands slightly more than normal.

"I'm sorry that I got a little weird," Ashton said, pouring their drinks.

"'Little' is putting it mildly. Why were you off on the sidelines by yourself, dancing with Vex?"

Ashton's eyes glowed a little brighter for a split-second, and settled down to their burning coal-like fashion. He took a thoughtful sip of the beer, and said, "I know you felt it too."

"What are you talking about?"

"The music. I saw how it possessed you almost the minute you heard it. I guess, since I'm a small part Fae, that it took a tad longer for it to affect me also. I blacked out for awhile, and at first I just chalked it up to the booze. I'm sorry if I in any way offended you." He smiled a crooked smile and cocked his head.

Kenzi felt all the uneasiness within her melt away. How could she have been so ridiculous? "I'm sorry too, I should have figured that was the case." She reached over the table and clutched his hand in hers. "How do you know exactly what to say?"

"Well, since I've been stuck in radio silence for the better part of a day, I've had a lot of time to rehearse," he said, laughing and draining his glass. "Do you think I should go thank Bo for the brew?"

Looking over her shoulder, she saw Bo in deep conversation with Trick, probably bouncing ideas about the case off him. To Ashton, she said, "Not now, she'll probably be over soon."

In the barrel room, Vex was busy tending to Mark's wound and trying to figure out what was really going on with him.

"Can I ask you a personal question?"

Mark tilted his head down towards the Mesmer. "I suppose."

"Now, I don't want to say I'm the most charming man around these parts, and I know we only met a couple days ago, but all this odd behavior…"

Mark's eyes hardened just a bit, but Vex continued.

"…have anything to do with you considering giving away your love?"

The hand not cut slapped across Vex's face, and Mark instantly said, "Oh God I am so sorry! I did not mean to do that, I don't know why I did that!"

Vex fell back on the ground, a shocked hand lifted to his reddening cheek. "What is going on with you?"

"I don't know!" Mark said, reaching his hands up, tugging at his hair. "I've never felt this way before. I feel like I'm being pulled in every direction at once, and when I scramble myself back together, I feel like either I'm not good enough for you, or that I can't trust you. There's something within me pushing myself away from you, and I have no idea how to respond to it." He jumped to his feet, pacing back and forth in the tiny space.

"Then let's get out of here," Vex tried to reason, "go somewhere and figure this thing out."

"I'm already fucking up this job enough, I can't just walk out on Trick."

"OK, how about this?" Vex asked, a devilish gleam invading his eyes. "How about we go out there together, and I help you? I won't leave your side all night. And I do mean _all_ night," he said, standing up and pressing himself in Mark's way, putting an end to his frantic pacing.

"You would do that for me?"

"Darling, I'd do much, much more," Vex said, and kissed him.

The kiss seemed to instill some peace within the shifter. His body stopped shaking, and he allowed himself to fall into the Mesmer's lips.

"Now, let's go out there and show them what a team we are," Vex said, pulling him towards the door.


	8. Chapter 8: Afternoon Delight

Chapter Eight: Afternoon Delight

Bo entered the police station and headed straight for Dyson's desk. She found him there, downing coffee like there was no tomorrow while frantically shifting through several folders scattered about the desk. She might still be a little hung over from last night – man she really needed to feed, she thought – but Dyson looked way worse for the wear. He must have been working on a big case. At least that was something she could relate with.

"Hey Dyson, have a sec?"

He jolted, not realizing she walked up. "Oh, hey, Bo." He looked around quickly, taking stock of who was in the room. "Yeah, let's step into the interrogation room."

They moved inside, and he shut the door, taking one last inspection of the work area.

"I'm here on a case. I'm not trying to look for Tamsin," Bo told him defensively, before he had the chance to ask.

"I just want to play it safe."

"I need you to look into someone for me. I'm working on this kind of strange case, and I have a potential witness that doesn't want to play nice. The one time I did get to talk to her, I got the feeling that she might have a rap sheet," Bo explained.

"And you were hoping I could get this girl picked up on some outstanding charges so you'd have the opportunity to question her?" Dyson asked, his face grim. "Tamsin and I are in deep on a case also, and I can't give some priority to a private investigator right now."

"Can I just give you a name, and have some beat cop look into it?" Bo asked, letting desperation seep into her voice.

"Fine," Dyson said, resigned, plopping into one of the chairs at the long table. He reached for a pen and some paper. "Give it to me."

"Her name is Eva Clare, and there's something else I should tell you. She's a water sprite."

Dyson's eyes flickered up to meet hers. "A water sprite? Seriously?"

"Why, is that interesting to you?"

"Maybe," he said, stroking his beard. "The case Tamsin and I have been working on, we have a John Doe. Lot of confusing things at the scene where his body was found, but his lungs were full of water."

"Is that something a sprite would be capable of?" Bo asked.

"It's not out of the realm of possibility," Dyson said. He knelt down and pulled a messenger bag from beneath the table. Taking a laptop out of it, he powered it on. Clicking through a few windows, he typed in the name Bo gave her, and turned the computer around. "There's a few things we could bring her in on."

Bo looked over the list. "Great. Can you make it happen, please? And since I'm looking for a missing water sprite, there may be a chance our cases are related?"

"It's starting to look that way," Dyson said, snapping the laptop shut and rising. "I will get someone to bring Eva in, but it might take some time. If you could tell that she was a bad egg from one conversation, it stands to reason that she might be a little hard to track down."

"I understand. I just have one really upset father looking for his daughter, and the sooner I can give him some answers, the better."

"Great, I will see what I can do." Dyson walked back over to the door, and saw Tamsin enter the main work floor. "Now that that's settled, how about we have a talk about Tamsin."

"How about we don't?"

"Considering she's right through this door, I'd like to take the temperature before we walk out there. You broke her heart Bo. I don't know exactly what she's feeling, because she refuses to speak also, but you broke a valkyrie's heart during her last life. She's spiraling Bo, and I don't know how, or when, but I feel like she's going to snap." Dyson's words were sincere, dripping with genuine concern.

"Tamsin's a big girl. She has to know that I had my reasons-"

"Stop. She knows exactly what you are, and she made her peace with it before giving herself to you. The problem was that you didn't see that until after you accepted her into your bed. And when you did, I think that some part of you was scared to finally be able to fully give yourself over to another person."

Bo stood frozen to the spot. She couldn't believe Dyson had the balls to say this to her face. "Are you seriously going to try to tell me about my own love life? It's something you voluntarily removed yourself from a long time ago."

"It wasn't voluntary!" Dyson shouted, which drew some looks from the outside room. He took one glance out there, then pulled the blinds shut and crossed the room to Bo. "You know what I did, what Kenzi did, for us. And you know that when I was finally ready to tell you exactly how I felt, you were with Lauren. So don't put any of this on me. I'm just saying that I know what Tamsin is going through, and you always seem to turn a blind eye to our suffering."

"That's not fair!"

"Isn't it?" Dyson countered. "Please tell me that you haven't kept the three of us on some sort of psycho cycle for the past few years. You drain each of us until you've had your fill, and then move on to the person who's most recovered."

Bo slapped him, hard. "Why are we talking about this?"

"Because you need to know that we're more than just food to you, Bo. As much as you've proclaimed your feelings for both Lauren and myself, and even Tamsin to an extent, but you have to realize that you are a slave to your sexuality. You've gotten sex-drunk on all of us, and it's completely darkened your perspective. So yeah, Tamsin's in a dark place, but it's a dark place that you put her in."

Sinking into one of the chairs, Bo put her hands to her temples. "I had no idea," she whispered. "I thought everything was… consensual, between us. I know I've acted out at times, pushing the people I love away, but I never thought that I'd cause such a rift among the people that I care about."

"You need to open your eyes, Bo." Dyson said, his voice gentle. "I'm just trying to help."

* * *

><p>Mark had been sleeping for over fourteen hours.<p>

Vex paced around his place, wondering what the hell happened to the shifter. His mood swings weren't symptoms of bi-polar disorder, Vex had seen what that could do to a person. This was something Fae in nature, but nothing he had ever seen.

It was more than just him being confused over giving his love away, and Vex understood that. While that may be part of it, an exterior force exerted itself upon him.

He knew that Mark was going through a severely hard time, and that he wanted to do something to make him feel better. He knew that Mark was having a problem with control, and maybe there was something he could do to alleviate that. All he needed was for the younger Fae to wake up, so he could ask the questions he wanted to ask.

Picking his way to the bedroom, he knelt down beside the bed. Brushing Mark's dark hair off his forehead, he whispered, "Time to wake up, love."

His eyes flickered beneath his lids, and his mouth opened in a yawn. "What, what time is it?" he asked groggily.

"Early afternoon," Vex said, "quickly nearing sundown."

"How did I sleep so long?" he said, stretching out on the bed.

"Not sure. But I've been thinking about something. There's something we can do that I think would help you out."

That got Mark's attention. "What do you mean?"

"These feelings that keep popping up, it's like you think that you can't trust me. Something in you is pushing yourself away from me, and I think I can do something to build up a little of that trust."

"And what's that, exactly?"

Vex stood up and pulled Mark from the bed. "First, you need to take a nice, long shower. Don't worry getting dressed after," he winked at him and shoved him towards the bathroom.

The water turned on behind a cracked door, and Vex went to work in the bedroom. He pulled the sheets back off the bed, adjusted the lighting to his liking, and popped a mint in his mouth. After several minutes, the water shut off and he heard the shifter step onto the tiled floor.

"Now, what did you have in mind?" Mark stood in the doorway to the bathroom, the towel draped loosely around his waist.

"Think of it as a trust fall exercise," Vex began. "Do you trust me?"

"I… I want to, so badly," Mark confessed. "I'm on the verge of it, I know, but there's this thing in me that I can't control, and I don't know what's causing it."

"OK, well," Vex held up his hand, and Mark found himself taking long strides towards the Mesmer. When he approached him, Vex pulled him in for a kiss. "Let me take the wheel on this one, yeah? Allow me to do what I do, and I'll show you that there's nothing I would ever do to hurt you."

Mark was still slightly confused about where this was going, but he agreed.

"So you just need to relax and enjoy the ride."

Vex forced Mark to the bed. The sensations flooding Mark were a mixture of apprehensive and attraction, battling for supremacy. He already felt himself getting hard, and Vex hadn't physically touched him yet.

Placing his head on the pillow, Mark's hands gripped the railing at the top of the headboard. He knew that he should feel like he could pull them away whenever he wanted, but thought that trying to do so would be futile. Vex crawled on the bed, slowly unbuttoning his shirt, putting on a private show for the younger Fae.

Half naked, Vex ripped the towel from Mark's waist, sending it fluttering heavily to the floor. He held Mark frozen, and began kissing along his shoulder.

Mark had never felt this powerless in his life, but somehow his body responded to it. His only job was to lay there and allow Vex to do whatever it was he wanted with him. Being a dark Fae, he realized that Vex could go to some really bad places, but with each kiss along his skin, each time Vex's teeth scraped his ear, he surrendered himself to a place of peace. His mind hadn't been this settled in a long time, and it felt amazing.

Twitching his fingers, Vex made Mark's legs lift into the air, bending at a right angle. Vex crawled to the foot of the bed, reaching to the floor and pulling a condom out of his shirt pocket. His pants fell next to it, and he quickly put the condom on.

Placing his shoulders in the crook made by Mark's knees, he inserted himself into the shifter and rocked back and forth as gently as he could.

"How are you feeling?" Vex asked, wanting to know that everything was still alright, that Mark wasn't secretly screaming in his head or anything.

"Holy shit, you wouldn't believe…" Mark moaned. Vex relinquished control of Mark's face, and his lips melted into a sloppy smile. "Vex, you're amazing."

"That's what I like to hear, pet," Vex said, and started thrusting his hips a little faster.

Vex released, and lowered Mark's legs. He then pulled himself up Mark's body, heading to his crotch. "Your turn," he said wickedly, and got back to work.

* * *

><p>Kenzi met Ashton for some much needed caffeine at the coffee house around the block from the clubhouse. After the usual pleasantries were out of the way, Ashton asked, "Hey, what would you think about a double date with the boys soon?"<p>

They sat at a booth overlooking the busy street. Kenzi's forehead rested against the cool glass, and the question took her by surprise. "I'm totally down for that, but can I ask why?"

"I know Mark's new in town, and I haven't been around too long, I thought we could maybe clique up a bit, you know?"

Mulling it over, Kenzi decided it might be a good idea, after all. She knew that Mark had been acting strange as of late, and a little socializing could go a long way. Vex was invested in the shifter, and even though she was a mere mortal, she still had pull in the Fae world, as minute as it was. She could help her friend's relationship and continue to build her own, so it seemed like a win-win.

"Sounds good, where were you thinking?"

"I know we keep going to all these fancy Fae gatherings and clubs, but how would you feel about something a little more human?"

Laughing, Kenzi replied, "I would love to see Vex in that situation."

"Great! There's a small party going down in the woods."

"Sounds super human," Kenzi said sarcastically.

"It's a group of people who think they're Celtic or some shit, but I've hung out with them before and it's always been a blast. There'll be a bonfire, lots of drinking…"

"Ritual sacrifice?"

"Sometimes they do try to invoke spirits or whatever, but mostly it's a little chanting here, maybe a small animal death, and but they always give up quickly and go straight to the party."

"I will get in touch with Vex, and we'll call it a date!" Kenzi sat upright, and help up her foam cup in a toast.

Ashton clinked his cup against hers. "Anything else on your mind?"

"Yeah, maybe you could shed some insight on this case Bo and I are working on," Kenzi leaned forward conspiratorially. "I don't know how much of the Fae world you know of, but do you know of anything that could cause people to completely flop personalities and abandon their friends? Maybe something related to water sprites?"

Ashton took a long, slow sip of his coffee. Kenzi could see the gears turning in his head, but the expression on his face was hard to read. It seemed as though the light in his eyes dimmed a bit, and Kenzi had yet to figure out exactly what that meant.

"I'm not sure, but there are some people that I can ask. I'll let you know when I hear back from them?"

"Perfect!" Kenzi said the word in her normal perky timbre, but inside she felt like some part of her was slipping away. Ashton was always so chatty, but this sudden bout of seriousness placed a small shard of doubt in her conviction that he would be so willing to help. Why she would think that, why she would allow herself to entertain these thoughts, was beyond her.

They finished their drinks in what Kenzi hoped was a comfortable silence, but when they left she went filled with unease.


	9. Chapter 9: Once Dark

Chapter Nine: Once Dark

The workroom once again shone in the sunlight. The hand moved, easing back and forth, arranging the quartz in a tribal fashion on the small table. In the center, a small clay pot sat, holding a small rose quartz gem atop a few pieces of straw. The hand kept arranging items on the table, knowing that everything had to be perfect. This ritual was one that needed absolute accuracy. It was hard, calling forth one's true self. Or at least, one version of it.

Whispering words in an ancient language, it shifted in its seat, hands scrambling for the matches it knew it had kept somewhere under the work area.

This was the final act, the last time it'd need to come here, for a long while hopefully. Everything was slowly falling into place, albeit the small bumps in the road it had faced. These people it toyed with were surprisingly resilient, but everyone eventually broke down. All you had to do was push the boundaries unless they gave way.

The matches clattered to the table, and it reached to one of the shelves, pulling a very rare, very potent, and very hard to find potion down. It checked everything on the table again, this was something it couldn't mess up. The slightest slip up and everything could be undone.

Four drops of the potion onto the rose quartz, and it lit a match, casting it down onto the straw in the clay pot. A small flame flared up, and the potion sizzled. The rose quartz darkened, turning black, and the regular quartz arranged around it blazed as if struck by lightning. A wind kicked up, banging the door open, and it felt the spirit it called forth rush from the room. The fire died and everything was silent.

* * *

><p>Eva Clare sat in the interrogation room, picking beneath her fingernails.<p>

Dyson, Tamsin, and Bo watched her from behind the one-way glass, the three of them with their arms crossed.

"Have you spoken with her yet?" Bo asked the detectives.

"Haven't even made any introductions," Tamsin said icily. Bo flinched away from the tone in her voice, recalling the conversation she had with Dyson. She knew that Tamsin hurt, and being in this proximity to Bo was not helping anything, but they both had to man up and get past this. They had a dead body on their hands, and one still missing, and the only person who might be able to shed light on the situation sat just beyond that glass.

"I'll go in first," Dyson said, starting towards the door.

"Wait," Tamsin said, catching up with him. "We're partners. We go in together. Bo," she added, focusing a laser-sharp stare in the succubus' direction, "we'll call you when we're ready for you."

Bo sulked as the pair entered the interrogation room, but kept her eyes trained on the scene playing out before her.

"Hello Eva," Dyson said, extending his hand towards her for a shake. She looked at it, bored, and let out an exaggerated sigh. Pulling his hand back, Dyson continued on. "I'm Detective Dyson, this is my partner, Detective Tamsin. I understand you've been brought in under theft charges, but we'd like to talk to you about something else while your paperwork is being processed."

"Do I need a lawyer for this?"

"Not unless you want one. We just want to ask a few questions regarding a missing person. Do you think you can help us with that?"

Not waiting for a response, Tamsin crouched in front of the girl. "Let me go ahead and sweeten the pot for you. You give us any information that we can actually use, and I will see to it that we downgrade your charges."

That sparked Eva's interests. "How far down are we talking?"

"Enough that you don't see the inside of a jail cell," Tamsin responded tartly.

Eva rolled her eyes. "Fine. Ask your questions."

Stepping over to the desk, Dyson picked up the file Kendrick had given Bo. He sifted through the pages until he found the photo of Morgan. Holding it up to Eva, he asked if she knew who it was.

"Yeah, I do."

"How would you describe your relationship to this girl?"

"We used to swim together."

Tamsin got between them. "Listen, you know where this is headed, right? You know Morgan's been missing, and that you were the last person to see her."

Glaring up at Tamsin, angered by her accusatory tone, she spat back, "Maybe I wasn't the last person to see her. Her tongue was definitely buried in that man's throat as they left on the train. Completely ignoring me, by the way. Whatever."

"What does that mean?"

"She was cool, then she turned into a bitch. That's about that."

"According to her father," Dyson took over, "you two were pretty inseparable growing up. That kind of friendship doesn't just change overnight."

"You're right," Eva said. "It wasn't an overnight thing. We were pulling away from each other for weeks before we just couldn't take it anymore."

"That's an interesting thing to say," Tamsin said. "So this friendship had a mutual end, then?"

Eva shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Her eyes became frantic, and she suddenly didn't know what to do with her hands. Her fingers kept wringing around each other, and a line of sweat broke out on her brow. It was as if she wanted to say something, but found herself unable to actually articulate the words. Her energy was changing; Bo could sense it from behind the glass even.

An electric current ran through the air, and Bo wanted to burst in to the room, to warn them that something bad headed their way. It might not be the slight girl with the numerous facial piercings sitting in front of them, but it was almost palpable to her.

"Not exactly," Eva said in a low tone. "We started fighting, and then she met this new guy, and it was like the bond that tethered us to each other just snapped. We didn't say goodbye, we just parted ways."

"That sounds mutual to me," Tamsin said off-handedly.

"Well it wasn't," Eva snapped.

"Wait, wait, who was this guy that Morgan left with?" Dyson interjected.

"I don't know his name, I barely saw his face," Eva said. "He was handsome, but that's about all I know about him. If I saw him in a line up, I could probably identify him, but good luck combing through all the handsome men in the world. Are we about done here?"

A knock sounded at the door. Bo had been so consumed in the exchange before her that she didn't notice the dark outline at the interrogation room door. It surprised Dyson and Tamsin as well, and then the knock repeated. Tamsin went to the door, cracking it open. Bo couldn't hear what was going on, but she did spot the regular issue white coat of the CSI techs.

Tamsin turned to Dyson with that I-have-to-be-somewhere face, and excused herself.

Bo went out into the hallway, following Tamsin. She called the valkyrie by name, but she didn't turn around. They rushed down the corridor in front of Bo, heading towards the crime labs, talking in hushed voices.

The security door swished shut right as Bo reached it. She tried to look through the smoked glass but found she couldn't see a damn thing. Pressing her ear to the door, she couldn't hear anything either. She just wanted to know what pressing matter would call Tamsin away from a case they were mutually working, but gave up and went back to the viewing room a minute later.

"Are we done yet?" Eva asked, clearly growing impatient.

"Just a few more things," Dyson replied as patiently as he could. "I'd like to ask you a few questions about a case we believe may be related, but these are more Fae in nature."

"I'm a water sprite. Pretty straight forward."

"Well, I've never had the pleasure, so if you don't mind… We found a body, and the lungs were severely inflated with water. About to explode, to be frank. Is that something that could be within the power of a sprite?"

"You're not asking me if I did this, right?"

"That's correct."

"Then yes, that's a way my kind has of disposing our enemies. It's not the most common way to kill, but not unheard of, either." Eva kept getting increasingly more fidgety. Bo wanted to warn him again.

"And I guess I'm out of questions. Seeing as you gave us nothing to work on, we'll have to go ahead and persecute you to the full extent of the law." Dyson said. Bo recognized the tactic, Dyson was trying to gleam any last bit of information from her, but Eva genuinely didn't have anything to give them. Bo could see that in the fear rising in the girl's eyes.

Dyson took her by the upper arm and Bo went to the door, wanting to meet them out on the floor. Tamsin was also returning with the lab tech. The tech held a small bust – the facial reconstruction from the John Doe in the woods.

Eva, pleading for Dyson to please just let her go, laid eyes on the bust, and went completely still, crumbling into Dyson.

"That's him," she said. "That's the guy who left with Morgan."

* * *

><p>The party was in full swing when the quartet arrived.<p>

Vex wasn't happy about having to trudge into the woods in his new dancing shoes, but once he saw the clearing with the large fire and all sorts of debauchery happening around it, his eyes lit up. "For humans, this aint half bad!"

Kegs were scattered around the fire, and Ashton led Vex over to one. A second later foam ran over their plastic cups, and Kenzi hung back to talk to Mark.

"So how are things going for you here?" she asked.

"They're… going," Mark replied. "Things aren't going exactly how I expected, but they could always be worse, right?"

He seemed withdrawn, like he had the night at the club. Kenzi looked him up and down, and he also looked thinner than the last time they met. Whatever was going on with him, it was taking its toll. She wanted to pry, but thought they hadn't quite reached that point in their friendship yet, so she went to ask easier questions.

"Want to get a drink?"

"Yes, absolutely," he said, looking relieved.

"How's dating Vex?" she said. He paled, and she recovered by saying, "It's just something that I've always wondered about. He's such an interesting person."

"That he is." Mark blushed. Kenzi could see him remembering something, and thought that she didn't want to know what caused his discoloration.

After that they got swept up in the festivities. Kenzi was relieved to see that they seemed to have missed the bunny sacrifice and ritual chanting. Vex and Mark were off dancing, and she noticed Mark getting incredibly handsy. Ashton was all over her, and everywhere she looked his eyes were glowing in hers.

The music blasted from a boom box someone brought with them, and Kenzi had the time to think, Who still owns a boom box? Then Ashton was dragging her a little closer to the fire, pulling them into a throng of dancing bodies in various states of undress. There must be something in the Kool Aid, and she reminded herself to only drink from the kegs tonight. The last thing she needed was another euphoric lapse of time.

She hadn't forgotten how weird she felt at the coffee shop, but she wasn't about to let that bring her down tonight. Besides, although he was being a little more clingy than normal, Ashton appeared to go back to being himself. As they drank and danced, she gradually lost track of their friends.

When she realized that she hadn't seen Mark or Vex in a while, she escaped the thrashing limbs and burst into the cool night air. Ashton followed.

"Where are they?" she shouted over the din.

"Who?"

"What do you mean? The couple that we are currently on a double date with?" Kenzi thought Ashton was back to normal, but maybe something was still off.

"Last I saw them, they were heading towards the woods," Ashton said in her ear. "I guess they wanted a little private time."

He danced away from her, clearly enjoying the party. She didn't want to put a damper on his mood, but she didn't feel comfortable with two Fae running wild in the woods doing who knows what with this many humans nearby. Searching along the tree line, she couldn't spot any movement. If they wandered too far from the party, that wouldn't be too much of an issue, but…

A hand landed on her shoulder and she spun, seeing Mark's wild eyes in her view.

"Hey buddy, where's Vex?" she asked, punching him lightly on the shoulder.

"That's what I wanted to ask you," he said. "I went to get us refills, and when I came back, he was gone."

"Ashton said that he saw the two of you go into the woods. Were you not with him? I mean, it'd be hard to mistake Vex, so…"

Mark filled with worry. "I'm going to go looking for him. What if he's in trouble?"

"Honey, that's crazy. Vex can take care of himself."

"So I've heard, but I've also heard stories where he's been taken down. I don't want to risk it."

"You haven't even shifted yet, right? How much power do you actually have? Let's call–" Kenzi said, and then her hip vibrated. She looked at the name on her phone, and held it up to Mark. "Bo!" she exclaimed, "Crazy, we were just talking about you!"

Kenzi listened for a moment, nodding. She said a couple yeses, and hung up. "Listen, Mark, I don't want to say that finding Vex isn't important, but Bo and I maybe have a new lead on this case we've been working on. I have to go." She started walking away, then turned back. "Hey! Have Ashton help you look for Vex. The two of you need to bond, anyway!"

Mark groaned. He had a hard enough time talking with the people he was familiar with lately, and he'd only met Ashton a couple times. This formula didn't quite add up in his favor.

Deciding that this was a job he'd rather go solo, Mark made his way towards the woods. On his way there, he kept an eye out for Ashton, but didn't see him anywhere. That was actually okay by him, as he didn't want to have to answer any awkward questions about where Kenzi bolted off to.

The further he made his way into the woods, the quieter everything became. Alone, in the darkness, the forest pressed around him, he felt clam. Not quite the peace of mind he achieved with Vex, but similar.

"Vex?" he called out.

At first all he heard was silence, and then what sounded like a scream cut through the air. He began moving in that direction. Two steps later, he got knocked to the ground.

"What the fuck?" he asked, rubbing at a growing lump on his head.

When he looked up, he saw a tail disappear around a tree.

"Dad, is that you?"

He struggled to his feet, confused, but followed the trail he had to follow. The way the tail went around the tree, it was in the general direction from where he heard the scream, so everything seemed to be lining up for him. If Vex's vanishing, this weird animal that appeared to have attacked him, and the woman's scream were all related, he couldn't fathom what that meant.

When the screams picked up again, this time much closer to him, he slowed his pace and picked his way towards the sound as silently as possible. It sounded like someone was being tortured, and that's when he heard the laughter.

It wasn't familiar, and yet it was. He couldn't place it, but he knew he had heard those sounds before.

"That's right dear, just a little more to the left!"

Mark froze. That was unmistakably Vex's voice. Who was he out here with? A wave of insecurity rushed through him, and he was afraid of what he might see. On second thought, no, he didn't want to know what was going on. If Vex wanted to talk to him about this night, he would.

Another scream pierced the night air, and now Mark couldn't figure out if it was pain or pleasure. From what he heard, Vex excelled at pain, and he knew how much pleasure the Mesmer could provide firsthand.

More confused than ever before, Mark turned and ran, not caring whether or not he was going in the right direction, unsure whether he even cared.


	10. Chapter 10:The Valkyrie and the Succubus

Chapter Ten: The Valkyrie and the Succubus

Tamsin paced around her small apartment the next morning, wondering when they would get a hit off the reconstructed face, besides some shit water sprite saying that she'd seen him in passing. She wanted this case closed, and then she planned to take some time off. There was nothing more she wanted than to blow this shit town and get away for awhile.

After her talk with Bo, she felt like her world had ended. From all her many lives, these past two have been the most trying. And it was all that damned succubus' fault.

No emotion, that had been her motto for an eternity. A thousand years of training wiped away by one job she happened to take. How had her life come to this? She was supposed to be an emissary of death, cabbing souls of fallen warriors to their wonderful afterlife, and now all she remained was a detective that couldn't solve a stupid John Doe case. And of course, of course, this case she worked happened to cross paths with Bo.

That night they shared, when Tamsin literally wrapped herself up and gave her body to Bo, was supposed to be the beginning of something wonderful. Instead she got a boot to the ass and asked to go.

Why did she even care about any of this?

The answer, simply, was Bo. Until the two of them met, Tamsin had been a tough shell to crack. Entering the circle of friends she had here somehow softened that, and she found herself sometimes grateful, but more often than not, regretful, of opting to put herself in this position. Thinking back, she couldn't remember whether she volunteered for this Light and Dark playing nice experiment, or if she had been forced into it. Everything with Evony was complicated, and she had her ways of making you choose something you'd regularly not.

Whatever happened since then, that was totally all on herself, and Bo. She wanted to hate the succubus, and succeeded in that for a long time, but like everyone else in Bo's life, she fell under her spell.

She wanted out, and this dead body was the last loose end she had.

Nothing would stop her once this case resolved itself.

She took another swig of the glass of scotch that she had been cradling against her chest. Everything was in such turmoil, she wasn't sure which path to take. The only thing that made sense was to leave, then, and never look back. Of course she would tell Dyson, and Evony, that she'd be right back, just needed to take a quick sabbatical, but she couldn't return here.

Stumbling, she realized that she was too drunk for it being this early in the day. Oh well, not like she had much to do today, aside from sitting around waiting for Dyson to call about the case. And she'd been working for eight days in a row, so maybe she'd just take a personal day.

Goddess knows she's earned it.

Every time she thought of Bo, her heart jumped to her throat, followed by an immediate knife to the organ. She couldn't trust herself, and that was the worst kind of doubt there was. If she knew one thing, it was doubt, and the sensations it stirred in her were horrible. She needed a release, or a cleansing, of sorts.

One final case, and she'd be done.

There was a knock at the door.

"What the fuck," she whispered. Dyson would have called, and since he was the only person she interacted with lately, who else could it be?

Taking the first tentative steps towards the door, she called out, "Who's there?" If it wasn't Dyson, the only logical assumption would be that it was an old enemy returning. But she didn't make enemies that were this polite.

No answer.

Pressing her hands against the wood, she positioned herself to see through the viewer.

"Goddamnit," she said beneath her breath. Standing inches away from her, close enough to touch if not for the door, was none other than Bo herself.

Bo knocked again.

Letting out a colossal sigh, Tamsin placed her glass on a side table and opened the door just enough to talk. Her body blocked any sight of the apartment behind her. "What do you want?"

"I just want to talk," Bo said, her demeanor sincere.

"I thought you had said everything you had to say," Tamsin said, knowing that Bo wouldn't leave until she's said her piece. She walked back into the apartment, grabbing her glass and leaving Bo standing in the open doorway.

"That's not true, and I think you know that."

Tamsin tipped her glass in the succubus' direction. "Never quite done with anyone, are you?" She downed the rest of the glass and moved to pour another.

Striding across the room, Bo put her hand on Tamsin's arm, preventing her from pouring more scotch into the glass. Tamsin reacted by jerking her arm away, breaking their contact and sending the glass bottle to the floor. As it shattered, Bo knelt to begin cleaning, and Tamsin brought her palm to Bo's cheek.

Bo fell to the floor, shocked at the sudden outburst of violence.

"What was that for?"

"You really have to ask that?" Tamsin said, reeling. "After everything you've put me through, you really need to ask that?"

"I'm sorry," Bo said, settling into a sitting position on the floor.

"It's about time."

Bo started to stand back up while Tamsin went to a cabinet and withdrew another bottle of alcohol. She refilled her glass.

"Tamsin, listen, I've had time to think…"

"Oh, so now you're thinking before you speak? What a startling innovation!" Tamsin took a deep swig, and finally took a long look at Bo. She was taking a much longer time to get back on her feet than she should, and the red mark from her slap had not yet started fading. She seemed out of breath, weak. "Bo," she said, her voice shaking just a bit, "when was the last time you fed?"

Bo worked and pulled herself to her feet. "I'm fine."

"Bullshit."

"I know how to handle my cravings."

"OK, if you're so fine, then please, tell me what warranted this unexpected visit." Tamsin said. If Bo wasn't willing to tell her what she really needed, then maybe she'd tell her the lame excuse she made to visit her.

"I just wanted to talk about the case we are working," Bo said, and her hand went to her cheek again. "Damn, have you gotten stronger?"

"Or you've gotten weaker. Has someone actually IDed our John Doe?" Tamsin retorted. If Bo wanted to play this game, she'd play along. Dance around the subject, like she's always done.

"No, I wanted to run some ideas by you. Trick's told me a little bit about these water sprites, and this particular sect of them are really interesting."

"I don't care about that," Tamsin said bluntly, polishing off this glass and slamming it on a table. "Blah blah blah, stupid Fae getting themselves into stupid situations. I keep trying to help, but the more help I give, the more they need my help. You know what, Bo? I'm sick of it."

"Are you trying to provoke me? I want us to just move on with our lives and get back to normal."

"What is normal with us, exactly?" Tamsin asked. "Really? I came into your life with the intent of bringing you down, you decide that I need to be reformed, I get a potion to send you to the Wanderer, we try to kill each other, you fuck me and then discard me? Is that the normal that you're so wanting to get back?" By the end of her tirade, she was a ball of fury, and stormed over to where Bo stood. Jabbing a finger into the succubus' chest, she said, "No, Bo. No."

Bo knew she had this onslaught coming, but now that it was here, she felt like she could do nothing to turn the tide. Everything Tamsin said was accurate, and in some way echoed the words Dyson had so thoughtfully said to her before.

She felt weak, mentally and physically. Tamsin was right that she needed to feed, but she just hadn't been in the mood in such a long time – since before she and Tamsin spent that night together. Thinking back, the last person she fed on was that one night stand with Mark, and while that night was amazing, Mark didn't hold the power that Tamsin, or even Dyson, was able to give her. This case had pushed her to the edge, and she felt like she was about to fall off the side.

"Tamsin, please."

"NO!" She shouted, still poking her. "I am on my last fucking life, and you took my heart before smashing it. I don't have the time left to deal with this. So you tell me, what do you honestly expect from me?"

"I don't know!" Bo shouted, backing away from Tamsin. She'd seen her angry before, but never quite like this.

When the valkyrie went to refill her glass yet again, Bo sprang into action and knocked the bottle from her hand again, sending another bottle to shatter on the hardwood. "Oh, bitch, you owe me so much for this," Tamsin said, throwing herself at the succubus.

They fell in a mercifully dry spot on the floor, a tangle of limbs.

Tamsin's breath was hot in Bo's face, and reeked of alcohol. Despite that, Bo found herself wanting to kiss the other woman. Kiss, inhale chi, fuck her, she wasn't entirely sure what she wanted, but she knew it started with kissing.

The valkyrie was having a similar experience, but she thought the process should start with a little punching. In their joined confusion, they began wrestling on the ground.

"Please, just relax," Bo said, rolling on top. She tried to use her sexual-energized touch to calm her, but she didn't have enough juice.

"Are you kidding me?" Tamsin said, punching Bo in the gut and throwing her to the bottom. "You are too weak to fight me right now, succubus. Maybe if you fed you'd stand a-"

Bo took that as a cue, and inhaled deeply. Blue energy flowed from Tamsin to Bo, and she felt one of the best rushes of her life. Apparently, the last life of a valkyrie was their strongest. She hadn't felt this good in a long time.

Forcing her mouth shut, Tamsin punched Bo again, although this time the blow landed with a little less impact.

"Listen, I'm sorry for whatever pain I've caused you," Bo said, now that she felt she had the situation under control. "But I still need you in my life."

"Oh yeah?" Tamsin said. "If that's true, then show me."

Bo ripped Tamsin's blouse off without half a thought, then tore her bra in two. Her hands and lips explored the exposed flesh, hungrily devouring every inch of her. Tamsin kept struggling to return, but Bo continued to slap her hands away, wanting to savor each individual sensation she received from her temporarily heightened senses. Her fingers dug at the waistband of Tamsin's pants.

Arching her back, the valkyrie scratched her nails down Bo's back, happy to find no resistance from a bra. She caught purchase on her shirt, and ripped it away from the succubus' body.

They continued their dance on the floor, spinning further and further into each other.

* * *

><p>Dyson felt like he needed a run.<p>

Not a typical, human jog, but a nice, animalistic, run. He went out to the woods, discarded his clothes, and shifted into his wolf. Sprinting through the trees, he felt free. All the stress from his son and Vex, from the missing water sprite and the John Doe, everything just faded into background noise.

As he ran, he caught a very delicious scent.

Barreling towards it, he charged through the underbrush, ignoring the scattering of smaller creatures. Nearing the amazing scent, he realized what it was. Blood.

Shifting back to his human self, he wandered naked towards a large redwood tree.

At first he didn't want to believe that what he saw could be real. The red splatter could not have come from just one person. Barely noon, and still clotted chunks of matter oozed their way down the trunk of the tree. It had to have been from the night before. The body barely had any full parts left to it.

And there was a message.

Written in blood, along the snaking roots of the massive tree, were the words, "I did it to myself."


	11. Chapter 11: Scattered Petals

Chapter Eleven: Scattered Petals

Mark spent the whole night, and the better part of the day in the woods. The sun lowered itself in the sky as he managed to find a road. He turned towards what he hoped was town, and started off in that direction, rethinking about the night he had.

That had been Vex, in the woods. The screams echoed through his mind, mixing with the remembered scent of blood. And he could still feel Vex's voice, sliding over him.

This couldn't be happening. Was he insane for thinking that he and Vex might have possibly worked out? Kenzi had given him a half-warning, and followed by Dyson's full one, he should have taken a few steps back days ago. And what was the display, that trust fall Mark allowed himself to fall into? Vex had been manipulating him this entire time, and he was too dumb to even have an inkling of a reason why.

His clothes were torn and muddy, his hair in a state of disarray. While he usually spent time making sure he looked his best before leaving his apartment, today it was the last thing from his mind. All he could think of were those screams, ricocheting around the trees.

Circling back to Dyson's warning, a thought popped into in his mind. Maybe, all this time, all these lies, were simply a way to get revenge on Dyson. The Mesmer and his father have both told him they didn't like each other, and it was obvious the distance they kept, even when in the same room. If so, Mark was going to find that son of a bitch and find a way around his Mesmer tricks to put him down for good. He felt played.

Tilting his head back, and unleashed a sound not unlike a howl at the rising moon. Everything had become so frustrated since he arrived here. A very small part of him yearned to return to the place he had come from, to just turn his back on his father and Vex, leave all this behind and deal with his past.

He almost wanted to punch something because he even allowed himself to entertain the thought of giving that man his love. The one thing that he could only do once in his lifetime, and he almost completely fucked up his future. When he got back to town, he was going to find some answers, and then he was going to find Vex.

Something stirred in the bushes to his right. He stopped walking, peering into the murky darkness and deepening shadows.

"Hello?" he called, waiting for a response. When none came, he murmured, "Stupid animals," and continued on his way.

A few hundred yards later he heard it again.

"OK, seriously. Who's there?"

For a split second there was silence, and then a twig cracked as something emerged from that ever-growing darkness. Mark had no idea exactly what he looked at. It crawled toward him on all fours, but on decidedly humanoid limbs. Draped over its back was a wolf pelt, but Mark had never seen any wolf that huge before in his life. The face of the pelt rested over whomever's face sat beneath it, obscuring the person's identity. At the other of the body, the tail was full and swaying. Something about the face was familiar to him, but he couldn't place it. The body under the pelt wore rags instead of actual clothes, just loose pieces of fabric barely containing the dirty flesh it hid. The hands and feet were covered in paw-like gloves, which to Mark appeared very costume-like.

"Woah dude, what the hell?"

It roared at him, and he fell onto the asphalt, scratching his hands in the process. He scrambled backwards, not daring to take his eyes of the thing. It took a couple menacing threats in his direction.

He had no idea what to do. The beast was Fae in nature, but Mark had never heard of anything like this. It began pacing back and forth, just in front of the tree line, its eyes never leaving Mark. Wishing he could see a little more of the face behind the mask, Mark pulled himself back into a standing position.

Trying to keep one eye on the thing, his other began frantically searching for a weapon. Barring a few small stones and a couple sticks, he was shit out of luck. If this thing wanted to attack him, there was very little stopping it from taking him out.

After it had finished taking stock of the shifter, the beast simply turned back to the woods and ran off.

"What the fuck was that?" Mark asked himself, breathing heavily. He had seen some weird things the past few days, but this had to take the cake. "I need to get back home," he said, realizing just how hungry he was. Maybe this was another trick. Maybe he just needed to get home, find something to eat, and sleep off this nightmare that had been his last twenty four hours.

Resigning to the aches and pains of his body as reminders that he hadn't completely lost his mind, he turned back to the road and restarted his trek, this time picking up the pace a bit. Whatever that thing was, he wanted to be home before nightfall took over.

* * *

><p>When Bo called Kenzi home last night, she said about one interesting piece of information, then told her she felt tired and needed to get some sleep. Kenzi considered going back out to the party after this incredible waste of time, then thought that maybe sleep sounded like an excellent plan, after all.<p>

The next morning Bo was nowhere to be found, and Ashton wasn't answering any of her texts, so she did something that she hadn't done in a long time, which was dress up in disguise and randomly roam through the city.

Selecting an electric blue wig cut into an asymmetrical bob, she partnered it with an aqua corset, fishnet tights under a pleather mini-skirt, and four inch stilettos. Pulling on a black leather jacket, she went to her vanity and applied a copious amount of makeup. Pleased with how she looked, she took off into the city, hoping a nice walk would alleviate some of the many troubles whirring about her brain.

The city bustled around her, and her thoughts turned to Ashton. He seemed genuine when she confronted him about the incident at Discord, but she wasn't sure she studied him long, or hard enough to be certain. What she wanted more than anything was to be able to trust him fully, that's what she needed after Hale. She loved him, planned on spending the rest of her life with him, and then everything changed. Spending so much time grieving, she almost forgot what happiness was, until Ashton appeared like a whirlwind in her life, sweeping her off her feet and dancing the night away.

If all this turned out to be a scam, or some sort of lie, she didn't know how to she'd be able to handle it. Her blood boiled at the thought. Next time she saw him, Ashton would have about two minutes to really explain himself, sincerely, or she'd castrate him.

Why was she being so harsh? She criticized herself. Her boyfriend acted weird twice and she's ready to let the hammer drop? Throughout her life, she'd been conditioned to be tough, but was this necessary? Noticing that she was taking in heaving breaths of air, she forced herself to calm down, and just relax. People watching had always been one of her favorite pastimes when she was younger, but now she realized the true fun was getting in some crazy outfit like the one she currently wore and watching people react to her.

Ultra conservative mothers would shield their small children's eyes, or make them avert their glances. Teenage boys and college frat guys tended to openly stare. The ladies also took their time with her, some out of lust, some out of content, but most were just perplexed. Kenzi didn't mind, she liked any kind of attention they wanted to show her.

She picked her way randomly through the city, not caring where she ended up. While she thought this was always the case, more often than not she finished her walks at the Dahl with a few drinks and a little dancing.

Passing a taxidermy shop she'd seen at least a dozen times, she paused once she got to the end of the display window. She was used to the strangely alive-seeming animals that adorned the display case, but this time, she wasn't really paying too much attention. This time, out of the corner of her eye, she thought she caught a glimpse of something much more peculiar than a half-assed mash-up of a squirrel and owl.

Doubling back, she gave the window a one-over, much more in depth than her passing curiosity. But there was nothing out of the ordinary. She could have sworn that she saw something that looked like a wolf, but for some reason it wasn't quite finished. She seemed to recall the pelt hanging from its frame, as if this particular wolf just had the pelt draped, unfinished.

It had to be just the way the late afternoon light glinted off the window, she thought, shaking it off.

The day continued to wane, and her legs began to tire. The Dahl was closer than home at this point, so she thought she might as well. Sliding her phone out of her jacket pocket, she sent Ashton a text letting him know he was free to join her if he so pleased. While she hoped he would come, she also wanted him to stall for a bit, to give her a chance to get a few drinks in her first.

As she walked along, it felt like someone, or something, kept an eye on her. She stopped every once in a while to look around, but never saw anything. As before, she liked any kind of attention that she got.

* * *

><p>Vex wasn't certain where he was.<p>

One second, he danced with a bunch of humans and Mark, having a gay old time, and the next he woke up in the middle of the woods. But "woke up" wasn't the right phrase, as he had never fallen asleep. It wasn't as though he'd never been spelled before, but this time was different. The magic was hard core.

He also didn't know what he did in the middle of the woods. If he concentrated real hard, he could remember the shine of a blade in the moonlight, the color red, and the distant sounds of screaming. Someone guided his body through a series of motions, and he only retained the foggiest recollection of what had transpired.

The sound of water dripping helped clear his mind, ground him in the reality of the moment. He looked around, noting for the first time that his hands were bound in chains connected to the floor.

"What the bloody hell?"

By the way, this also wasn't his first time in chains, but he usually enjoyed the experience.

He appeared to be in a workroom of sorts, although this one left a lot to be desired. Only the bare minimum was strewn about the room – a small worktable nearly on the floor it was so low, a couple of shelves with what looked like random shit in bottles randomly placed. There was a darker recess in one corner, and while he could make out the outline of something large over there, he couldn't tell what it was. Not like it much mattered, anyhow.

"Hello? Is anybody the fuck there?" he shouted to no avail.

The sun had nearly set, and he wondered if anyone thought to come looking for him. He wanted to know where Mark was, or at least know that the shifter was safe. Some gut reaction in him said otherwise, but he pushed the urge down. If someone had the power to smack Vex down this hard, their talents couldn't possibly be at use elsewhere.

He shuffled along the ground, trying to figure how far his reach went, which wasn't far, as it turned out. He could get pretty close to that darkness, but he'd rather not know what was too uncouth to be denied the very little light that entered this shed.

So instead, he listened. The sounds of the woods greeted him, which only told him that he was in the middle of the fucking woods. Listening closer, he couldn't make out the signs of anything unnatural, so it stood to reason he was a good distance away from the city, which was definitely a very bad sign.

A couple sticks cracked outside, and Vex's head shot towards the front door – well, the only door, as far as he could tell.

The door swung open, and in walked a man on two feet, something that looked like a cape falling down his back. The man's face was lost in a swath of shadow, and he lumbered into the workroom. Vex scanned his body, and almost breathed a sigh of relief when he saw no visible weapons.

"Who are you?" Vex asked. "Why did you bring me here? And what did you do to me?"

"Shut up," the voice was deep and gravelly, but purposefully so. Whoever he was, he tried his damnedest to disguise the sound of his voice. Was this someone Vex knew? And if so, what had he done to piss him off this badly?

"You're going to lock me up in this filthy sty and expect me to keep my mouth shut?"

The man took two long strides over to Vex and punched him hard across his face. While his world spun, Vex tried to see any identifiers on him that he'd be able to recognize. The effort was futile.

Turning, the man took a candle off the table and lit it with a match. The dim glow of the single candle didn't show much, but then the man started towards the corner with the dark silhouette. He took a couple more steps, the light slowly forcing the darkness to retreat. Vex could now tell that it wasn't a cape on his back, but a wolf pelt. This whole situation kept getting weirder, and it filled him with a sense of unease.

A foot appeared in the candlelight, followed by an ankle, a leg. The body looked naked, all clothing seemingly torn from the body and discarded by the wayside. Huge chunks of flesh were missing from the leg.

The wolf-thing set the candle down and leaned over the body. It pulled back its hood and took another mouthful of flesh off of what Vex assumed to be the body's chest. Disgusting slurping sounds followed, and then the man wandered back to the small table, kneeling in front of it. Vex watched it plop a section of skin on the table, cleaned from muscle and blood. The man picked up the flesh and removed some of the fabric coating on his body. Placing the flesh along his skin, he chanted something.

Whatever happened next was blocked from Vex's view, so he turned to the candle, still illuminating the body it sat next to.

And he knew the corpse.

"Who the fuck _are_ you?" he screamed.

* * *

><p>"Thanks for coming," Dyson said as Bo and Tamsin entered the Dahl. "And…" he said, actually looking at the two of them entering side by side, "you came together."<p>

Oh yeah we did, Tamsin had to refrain from saying.

"What have you got for us?" Bo asked, trying to get right down to business.

"Two things. First, we've been broadcasting the facial reconstruction on our John Doe since we received it, and we think we finally got a hit."

"That's great," Tamsin said. "Where did that lead us?"

"His name is Porter Jones. Was Porter Jones," Dyson corrected himself. "I wanted to get a start on questioning his family, but some people have had their phones off for the past couple hours." He glared at both the women standing in front of him pointedly.

"Sorry, Dyson," Bo said. "We were held up."

"I'm sure you were."

"What's the second thing?" Tamsin asked, not wanting to go into that territory just yet. She and Bo have yet to have 'the talk', and she didn't want anyone making any assumptions about the two of them until they were able to sort everything out on their own.

"I went running this morning, and I found something." Dyson's tone was grave.

"Found something?"

"A body. I found a body in the woods, with the message scrawled – in blood – 'I did it to myself'. Sounds like a certain MO, if I'm not mistaken." He looked at Bo. "The body was really messed up, like someone had taken a chainsaw to it, but all I found was a small knife. There wasn't enough left of the body to ID."

"What, do you think this had someone to do with…"

"With Vex? I think it's highly likely. I had the blood tested discreetly and –"

"Oh my God," Bo said, putting her hand up to her mouth. "It wasn't Mark, was it? I will go kill that son of a bitch myself if anything happens to that boy."

"No, no, not Mark. The blood belonged to Eva Clare."

"What are you saying?" Tamsin chimed in. "Do you think Vex is behind Preston's murder and Morgan's disappearance?"

"I don't know what to think when it comes to that maniac, but I know we need to find him, and we need to have a nice, long chat with him about what his intentions truly are."

A/N: Hello again! So I'm starting in on the third act of this story, so I only have about 4-5 more chapters planned until its completion. If you're digging it, let me know and I'd be more than happy to get a sequel in the works! As always, thanks so much for reading!


	12. Chapter 12: Porter Jones' Lover

Chapter Twelve: Porter Jones' Lover

Bo and the detectives left the Dahl minutes before Kenzi strode in. She scanned the room, didn't see anyone she knew with the exception of Trick. So she headed that way.

"You just missed everyone," Trick said, automatically pouring her favorite drink as she climbed onto a stool. "Looks like they left in a hurry. Any idea what trouble they're getting themselves into?"

"We've been working on a case, but I think Bo's had you helping, so you probably know more than me," Kenzi said. "I mean, Bo called me away from a date last night to talk about this missing water sprite, and then she tells me next to nothing!"

"Sorry," Trick said. "I don't know anything either."

"Do you happen to know where Bo was all day?"

Trick set down the glass he polished. "I might have overheard something. I'm pretty sure she spent the morning with Tamsin," he said, leveling his gaze on Kenzi.

She didn't reply for a moment, and Trick was looking at her, waiting for any response. "What? I knew she'd be heading back to Town Valkyrie soon. Didn't think it'd be this soon, but… there ya go."

Trick went back to work and Kenzi to her drink. After polishing off her second glass, she asked, "Hey, have you seen Ashton lately?"

"A few days ago, but he hasn't been around today."

"Huh," Kenzi sighed, twisting the glass in her hand, staring through the blurred glass.

"Trouble in paradise?"

"Yes? Maybe? I don't know, it could be all in my head. I'd just like to see him, clear some things up."

The doors opened and Mark walked in. Kenzi turned and her eyes widened. He looked like hell. His clothes were torn and filthy and his hair was a mess with leaves and dirt hanging across his forehead. Stumbling towards the bar, he seemed confused, as if he hadn't had this place set as his destination.

"You look bad, bro," Kenzi said, motioning to Trick for a couple drinks.

"I wanted to go home," he said, perplexed. "I didn't mean to come here."

"Well you're here, so might as well have a drink with me. You know," Kenzi said leaning into him, then backing away when she caught a whiff of his current scent, "if you want to date Vex, you'll have to get used to me. I think we should bond a little."

Mark gave her an intense stare. "I don't know what Vex and I are," he said a little harshly, then softened. "Sorry, I wouldn't mind having a drink with you."

"Something wrong on the boy-train?"

"I just don't know if I can trust him," Mark said as Trick delivered their drinks. "I feel like I need to take a shower, and then sit and think about everything that's been going on."

"I hear you. I haven't heard from Ashton since the party last night."

The bar began picking up speed as more people filed in through the doors. Mark and Kenzi brooded silently next to each other. Kenzi wanted to pry a little further, to see what had caused this rift between the two of them, but Mark's body language basically told her to go screw herself.

Mark finished his drink, setting the glass on the counter with a soft clink. "Thanks for the drink," he said, and left without another word.

Kenzi looked up at the ceiling, perplexed as to what her next move should be.

* * *

><p>The trio departed Porter Jones' house with not too much to go on. His parents were in their late fifties, both retired. What they discovered was that they basically freaked out upon learning that their son was gay, and kicked him out of their house. In the ten years since, they've realized the error of their mistakes, and tried repeatedly to reach out and make amends, but Porter was having none of it.<p>

When Porter went missing, the police allowed them access to his apartment, to see if there was anything laying around that might indicate where he had disappeared to. They found scattered paraphernalia that represented the man he'd become, but really nothing that would aid them in his whereabouts.

The only useful piece of information, or possibly useful information, came in a notebook the parents discovered in Porter's apartment. It appeared as though Porter had a boyfriend, or at least a lover, who would write in this notebook each time he visited.

Entries in the journal were dated a few days apart at the beginning, and gradually became a near-daily occurrence. Each passage signed with only the letter A.

Bo drove away from the Jones' residence with Dyson riding shotgun and Tamsin in the back seat. While the two up front talked about what a wall they had hit, Tamsin lazily leafed through the notebook, trying to find anything about who this person was. They knew whoever "A" was had to be the last person to see Porter before he vanished, and this book held the only clues as to where to find him. After being evicted from his own home, his parents lost track of who his friends were – they didn't even know where he had been working at the time until the cops told them.

Each entry grew more sensual than the last. It was obvious that A was starting to really love Porter. If Tamsin were into gay porn she'd probably be pretty turned on, but every time the writing turned more erotic, she found herself glancing in Bo's direction. Damn, she could take a tip or two from this A guy and really show the succubus a wild night.

Growing bored with all the "I love the way you…" sections, she skipped to the back, only to find that the writing was upside down. Righting the pages, she noticed these inversed passages were written by presumably Porter himself, each one signed with a P. These were very much mirror images to A's counterparts, but a desperation seeped between the lines, a longing that Tamsin could feel in her bones. Porter was incredibly in love with this man, and it was obvious.

Flipping from an erotic novel to a romance was a little disconcerting, but she pushed forward.

"If we can't find A, then that's it," Dyson said.

"I don't know. There has to be someone who knows him, right? He was working for that insurance firm, someone there has to know who he was seeing." Bo made a turn, not fully knowing what their destination was. "Where do we try next?"

"There's nowhere to try. Tamsin, are you getting anywhere with that notebook?"

"Maybe I would be if you gave me a goddamn minute."

"Always a pleasure," Dyson replied, returning his attention to Bo. "We can't just aimlessly drive around the city, looking for someone that we've never seen."

"Well let's take a look at the facts. Why the hell would a gay man seduce a water sprite and take her away from her friends?"

"We don't even know if that's what happened. Was his interjection romantic in nature, or was he just looking for friends because he felt alienated from the world and sensed something in Morgan that he could connect to?"

Tamsin wasn't listening. Porter's entries in the journal became something like a fever dream, and he spent a long time detailing each inch of A's skin, every sensation from the time they made love. It was obvious that while A enjoyed Porter's company, but beyond that it was clearly the beginning of a relationship, Porter had fallen hard and fast for A, much more than A for Porter, anyway.

Turning another page, she found Porter had apparently remarkable artistic skills. The entire page was a sketch of who she presumed to be A, fast asleep on the bed. Porter managed to work in every detail, making the drawing spring to life. Tamsin looked over the curvature of the muscles in the legs and abdomen, the way the pectoral muscles were perfectly formed. When she finally found herself moving towards the face, she slapped a hand on the back of Bo's seat.

"Stop the car!"

Bo slammed on the breaks, grateful that nobody was behind them. "What?"

"Call Kenzi. We need to find her. Now."

Without question, Bo unlocked her phone and hit Kenzi's number.

* * *

><p>Mark lowered himself into the bath. He had previously taken a wet towel to his hair and face, trying to remove most of the dirt before he soaked himself.<p>

Why was all this happening to me, he thought, wincing at the hot water. All he wanted when he came here was a fresh start, but what he found was nothing but confusion. He thought he found that with Vex, but it appeared as though that was a lie, exactly what he was used to.

More than anything, he came here because he wanted to give his love to someone, someone that would give his life purpose, and more than that, hope. For a few fleeting days he thought he had found that in Vex, but now he had no idea what to think. Vex had something about him, that called out to the inner turmoil within Mark, and he hoped it would lead to love everlasting. What he found himself with was a pile of doubt, and thinking that although Vex had chosen the dark, he also lost himself within it.

Mark himself was undeclared, which meant that he still had the opportunity to choose. If Vex could offer him everything he wanted, he would choose the dark in a heartbeat. Now, though, he was thinking more about joining the light. For now, he wanted to ground to stop shifting beneath him.

Vex was an undeniable whirlwind. A true force to be reckoned with, to be sure. Mark lapped the water over his skin, allowing himself to picture taking a bath with the Mesmer instead of a shower. He wanted that experience of watching the water slide down Vex's chest, yet at the same time it repulsed him. Had he not, just several hours ago, listened to the sound of Vex torture and murder some woman?

So many thoughts rang through his mind, and he was powerless to slow them.

"Please," he said, sinking beneath the surface. Under water, he shouted, "Help me decide!"

Vex had shown him nothing but kindness, but he didn't think he deserved it. After everything he had done before he came here, Mark thought he didn't merit that level of forgiveness. But still Vex showed signs of giving into his dark side, and that scared Mark. Enough to tell him to forget it? He wasn't sure.

Everything about this situation didn't make sense.

Surfacing, Mark thought maybe he should sleep this whole thing off before making a decision. He pulled himself out of the tub, and wanted nothing more than to fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

><p>Kenzi met them back at the club house.<p>

Bo and Dyson seemed to be utterly confused as to why Tamsin would want to summon the human, but it wasn't as though Kenzi had anything better to do. There were seventeen unanswered texts that she had sent Ashton's way.

"Kenzi," Tamsin hissed, rising from the couch with a spiral notebook in one hand, "can we talk for a minute?"

Looking from Bo to Dyson and finding no answers there, Kenzi agreed, and led Tamsin up the steps to the attic. Tamsin looked around the cluttered space, to which Kenzi replied, "Don't judge me, valkyrie."

Holding her hands up defensively, Tamsin said, "This is bigger than that. I need you to look at something, and tell me what you think."

"Is this about the case that Bo keeps bugging me about?"

"Yeah, it is," Tamsin said, and held the notebook out before her.

Kenzi took it and held it gingerly in one hand. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Flip it over," Tamsin instructed, "and go through a few pages. I think you'll know when you see it."

Not fully understanding what Tamsin wanted of her, Kenzi began leafing through the pages. When she got to the page with the sketch on it, her jaw dropped.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Kenzi said. "Whose notebook was this?"

"Just tell me what you see," Tamsin said.

"That's Ashton."


	13. Chapter 13: The Plans Unfold

Chapter Thirteen: The Plans Unfold

A/N: Sorry for the long wait before this update! Life and work got in the way for a little bit, but I'm back to the grind!

"What the hell do you want with me?" Vex asked as Ashton paced around the small room. "How are you doing any of this? You're only a very small part Fae, right?"

Ashton chuckled, arranging a variety of blades on the table, taking the time with each to run his fingers lovingly along the polished blades. He waited before answering, gauging how much information he'd like to give the Mesmer. Vex had already tried using his physical manipulation on him, then realized he'd been given something to block his abilities. "I may have exaggerated my lineage. I'm completely Fae."

"But how? Mark is able to sense Fae, and you barely blimped on his radar." Vex grew more wary by the minute. Here he was, trapped in this building, with someone who clearly was a psychopath, and he doubted anyone had noticed he'd gone missing yet.

"I can pretty much disguise my scent," Ashton said, still circling the table, letting his eyes play over the gleaming blades. "I can pretty much disguise everything, matter of fact, except for my eyes."

Vex tried to figure out how much time he had until Ashton decided to put those blades to use – and to what end. He risked a glance over to the dark lump in the corner again. "So what are you playing at?"

"I really, really love Kenzi," Ashton said. Vex started at the change of subject. "Like, I think I want to marry her. There's just one little issue that I'm having."

"You're a deranged kidnapping lunatic?"

Ashton continued on as if Vex hadn't said anything. "The first night we had sex, she mumbled something. It took some time to figure out what she said, but you know what it was? While we were in the middle of fucking, she straight-out says that you have the best body she's ever seen. Do you know what that feels like? And then, whenever I allowed myself a peek into her head, more often than not she was thinking about you. Now tell me, why would she think these things?"

"I'm gorgeous, mate. That's just something you'll have to deal with."

Grabbing a knife off the table, Ashton rushed to Vex's side and placed the edge to the Mesmer's throat. "Now that's where you're wrong, I'm afraid."

"Hey now, let's not do something we can't take back now, right? And what do you mean," Vex tried to steer the conversation back on track, "you were reading her mind? What kind of Fae are you, you sick fuck?"

Sliding the knife lightly over Vex's skin, Ashton let out a gentle shushing noise. "Haven't you figured it out yet? You did notice that your boy has been a little distant lately, right?"

"You aren't making sense! What do Kenzi and Mark have to do with the fact that I'm tied to this post?"

"You haven't been paying attention!" Ashton shot to his feet, moving towards the table to grab his candle. "We need to be looking at the little clues! Do you want to know what I did to your little shifter, and what I'm about to do to you?"

"Well yes, that'd be helpful," Vex said, his voice dripped sarcasm.

"The only people who knew of my kind's existence were the Navajo people of the American southwest. When their legends passed down through Fae lines, not a soul had any clue what they spoke about when they talked about us, so they passed it off as something else. We've slipped through all the cracks of both human and Fae societies for centuries." Ashton sat down near the inky darkness of the recessed corner. "Your boy Mark got hit with this," he said, holding up a blowgun, "and the bullet filled with a special cocktail I mixed up."

"What did you do to him?"

"All I did was jumpstart his insecurities, making himself push away from you. Step one in my little game is to eliminate the variables."

Twisting in his bondage, Vex kept trying to see the shape in the corner. So far Ashton wasn't making too much sense, but at least he was talking, and not, say, slashing him to ribbons. Vex considered this a slight, but important, win.

"What is that?" he asked, nodding towards the lump.

"Still not connecting things the way you should," Ashton mused. "We'll get to that question soon. What I did to you was along the same lines of what I did to Mark. You see, in the woods you were hit with another dart, and you carved up that cute little thing like no one's business. Bet you didn't know Mark was close enough to hear her screams."

Vex sat in shock. This bastard was the reason why Mark hadn't come to a decision regarding his love. The best thing in his life hung in the balance of someone else's dark struggle to win another's affection. It was about the sickest thing he'd heard, and now he wanted more than ever to escape his bonds and tear this fucker's head off. As his lips curled into a snarl and he said, "When I get out of here, or whatever it is that you gave me to mute my powers wears off, I'm going to kill you. And I'll take my time with it."

"Promises, promises," Ashton wiggled a finger at him. "Now where was I? Oh yes, this body in the corner. It's been… sustaining my appearance for the past while, and I've grown quite tired with it, if I'm honest." He rose and grabbed a couple candles off a shelf. Lighting them, he placed one on either side of the thing, and Vex gasped.

The skin had completely discolored, and chunks of flesh had been ripped out, clearly post-mortem. Vex gagged at the sight. Skin falling off the bone, the clothing torn to tatters, and Ashton standing over it, inhaling with a bright smile on his face.

"I'd like you to meet Ashton!" He exclaimed. "At least, the original Ashton."

"What the hell are you?" Vex whispered.

Ashton went back to the table. "My people exiled me once they found out I walked in human skin. You should meet the family, they're a lame bunch. All they like to do is wander around the deserts, trading one animal for the next. Now why, if you could change yourself into any living thing, would you only want to become animals?"

Vex's mind reeled. He didn't know much about Native American folklore, but over the years he heard things. He tried to come up with anything, and found that he was blank.

"Anyway, since then I've just been enjoying one amazing body after another. Then, maybe about a week or so ago, I found that I was getting bored with it. I've been human, Fae, and everything you can imagine, but now I want another challenge. I want to find a mate, and also try to find a semblance of an ordinary life."

"Kenzi seemed really into you, why don't you just try it out with that body then?" Vex questioned. "Why go through all this hassle?"

"Because, the way I've been going through these bodies is a temporary method. Then I came across another Skinwalker, like myself, banished from the familial lands. She showed me how to make it permanent, without having to keep the old body around for scraps." Ashton's eyes flared in the dim light. "And since she's so fascinated with you, I found my perfect target to try this new way out on."

Vex didn't want to ask what the other way meant. Ashton hadn't mentioned any of the specifics, but this couldn't possibly be a pain-free procedure. Looking at the knives again, he thought he might have an idea what the next step entailed.

"You see, the way I have been taking over people's lives is by alienating them, which I've said, then I kill them, and feast on their flesh, while at the same time adhering their skin to my own to keep up the appearance of them. But what I've learned," Ashton said, stepping back over to Vex, "is that if I skin my victim alive, I can dress myself in their skin, and the fusion becomes permanent. Then I can have Kenzi, and she can fall in love with the body her heart desires."

* * *

><p>"This is fucking impossible," Kenzi said. "You're telling me that this notebook belonged to the body you and Dyson found in the woods?"<p>

"Yeah, that's what happened."

"How is this possible?" Kenzi said, sinking onto her bed. They heard footsteps coming up the stairs. "Have you shown them yet?"

"No, I haven't," Tamsin replied. "But I'm about to. I just thought that you should know first."

"So the body in the woods is related to the missing girl Bo was looking into, then?"

"Yes."

Bo and Dyson entered the room. "Okay, does someone want to explain this journal to me? What did you find?" Bo directed the question towards Tamsin, but kept one eye on Kenzi.

The valkyrie and the thief shifted nervously for a moment. Dyson hung back by the door, arms folded over his chest, unsure of what to do. Bo shifted her gaze from one to the other expectantly in full on mom-mode.

"Well?"

"The man that Porter Jones was seeing at the time of his death was Ashton," Tamsin blurted out bluntly.

"What?" Dyson asked from the door.

"Exactly. I don't know what the connection is, alright?" Tamsin said, moving towards Bo. "But there is one. And if we're going to find Ashton to ask him about this, we need Kenzi's help."

"I don't know how much help I'll be, actually. Ashton hasn't returned any of my texts or calls since we went to that party."

"That human party you went to?" Bo asked. "Didn't Mark and Vex go with you guys?"

"Yeah, they did."

"Where was this party?" Dyson interjected. The three ladies turned to him. "What?" he asked, surprised. "I can go there, search for their scents. Might lead to something."

Kenzi explained how they got there, and then said, "I should call Vex."

"Don't forget that Vex might be behind all of this somehow," Dyson said. "I found his dirty work out in the woods, remember? So call him, but don't trust everything he says. Try to find out why he would butcher a girl in the woods."

"That's a good idea. We should also call Mark," Tamsin added.

"Does anyone have his number? I gave him mine and told him to call if there was any trouble, but I haven't heard from him," Bo said. "Does anyone know where he lives? We should swing by."

Dyson gave the women Mark's address and number, then left to see what he could find.

Kenzi went back to looking over the journal. "Do you think this means that Ashton killed this Porter person?"

"It's really starting to look that way, Kenz. Sorry."

"I'm going to go downstairs and try to reach Vex. I really need some answers here," Kenzi said, and disappeared from the attic.

Bo bent to the journal Kenzi left on her bed, and flipped through it. "I can't believe someone so in love would do this to the person they were with. And nothing in this book says what happened, what turned in their relationship." She kept leafing through, "The last entry is still soaked in that love-sick prose from the beginning."

Tamsin went to her, and looked at the passage over the succubus' shoulder. "Maybe there's something we're missing?"

The succubus felt unsure how to respond with Tamsin so close. She wanted to stay focused on the case, but at the same time it had been a day or so since she's fed. It was also getting late, and she didn't know how much more they could work the case until the morning, especially if Ashton was being so unresponsive.

For a minute Bo thought she could push this investigation from her mind for the night, then Tamsin disrupted her reverie. "We should call Mark, see if he knows anything."

"Of course," the succubus said. "Let's give the boy a call."


End file.
